If excessive and misdirected, street lighting (SL) causes energy waste and might pose significant risks to humans and natural ecosystems. Based on data collected by an interactive user-oriented method, we developed a novel empirical approach that enables the spatial identification of over-illuminated areas in residential neighborhoods and calculation of potential energy savings that can be achieved there, by reducing excessive illumination. We applied the estimated model to a densely populated residential neighborhood in the City of Tel Aviv-Yafo in Israel, to test the proposed approach's performance. According to our estimates, illumination levels can be lowered by up to 50% in approximately 60% of the neighborhood's area, which is currently over-illuminated, thus leading to significant energy savings, while preserving a reasonable level of visual comfort associated with SL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]