The study of cities has risen to the top of research agendas in the last decade, raising the question of how to study something as vast and eclectic as cities. This paper proposes a return to a focus on the local as an appropriate scale to investigate the needs and requirements of the livable city. A critical design approach is described, together with two design fictions that speculate on the relationship of the local to the city and how this could be mediated through data. The paper concludes by claiming that the local can reveal many of the subtleties and nuances associated with urban living and at the wider level can provide indicators to why this style of living is increasingly desirable to a growing urban community.