Score commute, groceries, healthcare, schools (if relevant), and weekend downtime on a simple 1–5 scale. Two neighborhoods can look similar on a map but feel totally different in daily life.
Visit at least once during rush hour and once on a quiet evening. Noise, parking, and street activity change materially across the day.
Talk to residents where you can—building staff, local shops, parents at pickup. Patterns repeat, and a few honest answers beat anonymous forum threads.