diff --git a/src/deep_neurographs/graph_utils.py b/src/deep_neurographs/graph_utils.py
index 3ad9e21..fae3b5b 100644
--- a/src/deep_neurographs/graph_utils.py
+++ b/src/deep_neurographs/graph_utils.py
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ def upd_branch_endpoint(edges, key, old_xyz, new_xyz):
 
 # -- attribute utils --
 def __init_edge_attrs(swc_dict, i):
+    #print(len(swc_dict["radius"]), i)
     return {"radius": [swc_dict["radius"][i]], "xyz": [swc_dict["xyz"][i]]}
 
 
diff --git a/src/deep_neurographs/intake.py b/src/deep_neurographs/intake.py
index 94bf551..87581ce 100644
--- a/src/deep_neurographs/intake.py
+++ b/src/deep_neurographs/intake.py
@@ -55,7 +55,9 @@ def build_neurograph_from_local(
     assert swc_dir or swc_paths, "Provide swc_dir or swc_paths!"
     bbox = utils.get_bbox(img_patch_origin, img_patch_shape)
     paths = get_paths(swc_dir) if swc_dir else swc_paths
+    t0 = time()
     swc_dicts = process_local_paths(paths, min_size, bbox=bbox)
+    print(f"build_neurograph_from_local(): {time() - t0} seconds")
 
     # Build neurograph
     t0 = time()
diff --git a/src/deep_neurographs/swc_utils.py b/src/deep_neurographs/swc_utils.py
index c9b03e6..f468229 100644
--- a/src/deep_neurographs/swc_utils.py
+++ b/src/deep_neurographs/swc_utils.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import networkx as nx
 import numpy as np
 from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, as_completed
+from time import time
 from zipfile import ZipFile
 
 from deep_neurographs import geometry_utils
@@ -49,17 +50,21 @@ def process_gsc_zip(bucket, zip_path, min_size=0):
 
 def parse_local_swc(path, bbox=None, min_size=0):
     contents = read_from_local(path)
-    swc_dict = parse(contents) if len(contents) > min_size else {"id": [-1]}
+    parse_bool = len(contents) > min_size
+    if parse_bool:
+        swc_dict = parse(contents, bbox=bbox) if bbox else fast_parse(contents)
+    else:
+        swc_dict = {"id": [-1]}
     return utils.get_swc_id(path), swc_dict
 
 
 def parse_gcs_zip(zip_file, path, min_size=0):
     contents = read_from_gcs_zip(zip_file, path)
-    swc_dict = parse(contents) if len(contents) > min_size else {"id": [-1]}
+    swc_dict = fast_parse(contents) if len(contents) > min_size else {"id": [-1]}
     return utils.get_swc_id(path), swc_dict
 
 
-def parse(swc_contents, bbox=None):
+def parse(contents, bbox=None):
     """
     Parses an swc file to extract the contents which is stored in a dict. Note
     that node_ids from swc are refactored to index from 0 to n-1 where n is
@@ -79,26 +84,21 @@ def parse(swc_contents, bbox=None):
     min_id = np.inf
     offset = [0, 0, 0]
     swc_dict = {"id": [], "radius": [], "pid": [], "xyz": []}
-    for line in swc_contents:
-        if line.startswith("# OFFSET"):
-            parts = line.split()
-            offset = read_xyz(parts[2:5])
-        if not line.startswith("#"):
-            parts = line.split()
-            xyz = read_xyz(parts[2:5], offset=offset)
-            if bbox:
-                if not utils.is_contained(bbox, xyz):
-                    break
-
-            swc_dict["id"].append(int(parts[0]))
-            swc_dict["radius"].append(float(parts[-2]))
-            swc_dict["pid"].append(int(parts[-1]))
-            swc_dict["xyz"].append(xyz)
-            if swc_dict["id"][-1] < min_id:
-                min_id = swc_dict["id"][-1]
+    contents, swc_id = get_contents(contents)
+    for line in contents:
+        parts = line.split()
+        xyz = read_xyz(parts[2:5], offset=offset)
+        if bbox:
+            if not utils.is_contained(bbox, xyz):
+                break
+        swc_dict["id"].append(int(parts[0]))
+        swc_dict["radius"].append(float(parts[-2]))
+        swc_dict["pid"].append(int(parts[-1]))
+        swc_dict["xyz"].append(xyz)
+        if swc_dict["id"][-1] < min_id:
+            min_id = swc_dict["id"][-1]
 
     # Reindex from zero
-    swc_dict["radius"] = np.array(swc_dict["radius"])
     for i in range(len(swc_dict["id"])):
         swc_dict["id"][i] -= min_id
         swc_dict["pid"][i] -= min_id
@@ -106,6 +106,59 @@ def parse(swc_contents, bbox=None):
     return swc_dict if len(swc_dict["id"]) > 1 else {"id": [-1]}
 
 
+def fast_parse(contents):
+    """
+    Parses an swc file to extract the contents which is stored in a dict. Note
+    that node_ids from swc are refactored to index from 0 to n-1 where n is
+    the number of entries in the swc file.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    path : str
+        Path to an swc file.
+    ...
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    ...
+
+    """
+    contents, offset = get_contents(contents)
+    dtype = np.int16 if len(contents) < 2 ** 16 else np.int32
+    swc_dict = {
+        "id": np.zeros((len(contents)), dtype=dtype),
+        "radius": np.zeros((len(contents)), dtype=np.float16),
+        "pid": np.zeros((len(contents)), dtype=dtype),
+        "xyz": []
+    }
+
+    min_id = np.inf
+    for i, line in enumerate(contents):
+        parts = line.split()
+        xyz = read_xyz(parts[2:5], offset=offset)
+        swc_dict["id"][i] = int(parts[0])
+        swc_dict["radius"][i] = float(parts[-2])
+        swc_dict["pid"][i] = int(parts[-1])
+        swc_dict["xyz"].append(xyz)
+
+    # Reindex from zero
+    min_id = np.min(swc_dict["id"])
+    swc_dict["id"] -= min_id
+    swc_dict["pid"] -= min_id
+    return swc_dict
+
+
+def get_contents(swc_contents):
+    offset = [0, 0, 0]
+    for i, line in enumerate(swc_contents):
+        if line.startswith("# OFFSET"):
+            parts = line.split()
+            offset = read_xyz(parts[2:5])
+        if not line.startswith("#"):
+            break
+    return swc_contents[i:], offset
+
+
 def read_from_local(path):
     """
     Reads swc file stored at "path" on local machine.
@@ -150,7 +203,7 @@ def read_xyz(xyz, offset=[0, 0, 0]):
         The (x,y,z) coordinates from an swc file.
 
     """
-    return tuple([float(xyz[i]) + offset[i] for i in range(3)])
+    return tuple([np.float32(xyz[i]) + offset[i] for i in range(3)])
 
 
 def write(path, contents):