Step 03

Conduct User Research

Collaborate directly with end users throughout the entire process to identify user needs, agree on a use case for your product that will best serve a real problem for the target audience, and ask for ongoing user feedback while you're developing the product. By building alongside your end-users, you can create a product that will better serve their needs. At the beginning of the process, try to answer questions like "How do people experience the problem?" "Do they have any tools to help them currently?" "What are the gaps that exist in their current tools?" and "What tools do users wish they had?"

Conduct interviews with user advocates, or work with user advocates to set up conversations with your end-users to better learn about their needs, constraints, and preferences for digital tools. If you're working with a user advocate that does community outreach, learn how they connect with their audience and any challenges they run into.
Consider other methods, like facilitating a design workshop at the start of the sprint to bring user advocates into one room to brainstorm together.
Create a detailed use-case to narrow down a broad problem statement to a specific user-driven issue to tackle.

Resources

Empathy Isn't Enough

Read this article written by a past participant in The Opportunity Project to learn more about the user research workshop, user interviews, and other methods they used to build a useful tool for youth experiencing homelessness.

User Centered Design Training

Watch this user-centered design training that Exygy created for Opportunity Project participants.

How to Conduct User Interviews

This article provides tips on how to create interview questions and conduct user interviews, and includes resources you can use for interviewing.

IDEO Design Methods

Consider using IDEO Design Methods to narrow down your problem statement.

User Scenarios

Use the user-scenarios as examples of user-generated data. You may want to work with user advocates and end users to create similar scenarios that provide a detailed picture of the problem you're tackling.

Jo - LGBT Youth experiencing homelessness

Jo is a 19 year old transgender woman, born and raised in a small town in Idaho. Throughout her life, Jo's family experiences housing instability, causing her to change schools often and have a difficult time making friends and maintaining close relationships. With a lot of time spent on her own, Jo takes solace in drawing and creating art at an early age. During her senior year of high school, Jo comes out as transgender to her classmate Mariah, who accepts and affirms her for who she is. The chance to be open with someone about her gender identity is a huge relief to Jo, and the two become close friends.
After graduation, Mariah suggests they move to Cincinnati together, where they can stay with her cousin for a small fee. Cincinnati offers more transition-related resources for Jo, and it's much easier to get around in the city (Jo doesn't have a car). Also, Mariah's cousin owns a hair salon and says they can help out from time to time to make a bit of money. The two decide to make the move.
After a few weeks of doing temp work and trying to make ends meet in the city, Jo lands a job interview for a receptionist position at a local arts magazine. However, the night before the interview, Mariah gets into a bad fight with her cousin, who tells Jo and Mariah that they are no longer welcome in her home. Jo and Mariah call the few people they've met in the city to see if they can crash on someone's couch, but no one is able to offer them a place to stay. One person, however, gives them the address to a local youth shelter.
While going through intake at the shelter, Jo is informed that shelter policy requires she be housed in the men's wing because her government I.D. says "male," while Mariah, who is cisgender, is placed in the women's wing. Jo asks if an exception can be made so she can be placed in the women's wing with Mariah. The caseworker explains that she wants to help, but she is limited by strict institutional policies. If Jo wants to stay at the shelter, she needs to stay in the men's wing.
Separated from her friend, and feeling unsafe due to the sex-segregated housing policy, Jo decides she's going to find another place to stay. She explains to the caseworker that, in addition to housing, she also needs to prepare for an important interview in the morning. Jo still needs to do some more research on the company, find a safe place to get changed before the interview, and figure out how to get there. She doesn't have a lot of cash, she's unfamiliar with the city, and her phone battery is dying. Also, Jo is low on mobile data, so she's unable to access information without WiFi.
If Jo had an app designed for her needs…
The caseworker suggests Jo download the True Connect mobile app, which will connect her to transgender-affirming housing and other resources that can help her prepare for the interview. Jo uses the shelter WiFi to download the app and finds a safe place to stay for the night.
The next morning, Jo uses True Connect to locate an affordable healthy corner store to get some breakfast, a charging station to finish charging her phone, and a free wifi hotspot so she can do a bit more research on the magazine company before her interview. Through the app, she locates a gender-neutral restroom near the magazine company where she can get ready and a free shuttle bus that will take her close to where she needs to go. Jo notices the app also includes a list of transgender-affirming health care providers, which she plans to explore later. Before the interview, Jo uses True Connect to find a public park near the magazine company where she can decompress and relax.
Thanks to the True Colors Fund for creating this scenario highlighting the True Connect app concept.

Samira - Survivor of domestic violence, relocating to new area

Samira is a mother who just relocated to a new city to leave an abusive and highly dangerous partner. She's left everything behind and does not want him to be able to find her. She is trying to start over with very little. She's currently living in an emergency DV shelter. She's been receiving basic services (shelter, counseling, basic legal advocacy, etc.) through the shelter, but she needs to transition out soon since there is a limit to how long she can stay at the shelter.
Samira needs to find affordable housing and a job. She's doesn't have a lot of work experience, but she's temped in offices before. She doesn't have a car, so she needs a job that's either walking distance or that she can get to with public transportation. Although she has custody of her child, there are still ongoing court hearings, and so she needs to be able to travel to the court house for hearings.
She needs to find a home for her and her daughter. She'd like a place that's safe but close enough to her job and close to her daughter's elementary school. She will also need to find affordable afterschool care for her daughter while she is at work. Also, her daughter has type 1 diabetes and needs to regularly visit the doctor, so she wants to know where the nearest free clinic or emergency clinic is in case there are complications.
Because she's in a new area and doesn't know anyone, except the people at the shelter, she needs to know where everything is, including grocery stores, laundromats, post office, etc. It would be great to know where the nearest police or sheriff's department is so she can take her protection order to them to have on file. She also is interested in finding a faith-based or culturally-specific community she might be able to connect to in order to rebuild her support system and meet people.

Barb – Neighborhood leader needing data for effective advocacy and planning.

Barb is the Vice President of Riverside Neighborhood Association. Barb's neighborhood is isolated by rail road tracks and light-industrial business, dotted with empty warehouses. It feels like she's been fighting for her neighborhood's survival for years now. Whether proposed high rise apartments that would hamper access to the riverfront, or the opening of yet another bar or liquor store, her neighborhood association seems to always be reacting to something.
Barb has a job as an administrative assistant working for the state in the neighboring county. She feels lucky to have her old car. If traffic is good, it's a 30 minute drive to her office. But, when the transmission went out last month, she relied on public transportation -- a nearly two-hour bus ride with a transfer at the county line. On her breaks at work, she conducts internet research for the neighborhood association, and she considers neighborhood advocacy to be her "real work."
Barb's mother Jean lives with her. Ms. Jean's diabetes is getting worse, and Barb has been taking time off work to get her to doctors' appointments halfway across town. The doctor has given them pamphlets on what foods are good for people with diabetes, but her mom prefers the food she's always cooked, and fresh fruits and vegetables are hard to come by in the neighborhood. The corner store carries a limited selection of produce, but it always seems to be better fit for the trash than a plate.
Many of Barb's neighbors work two or more jobs in the service industry, which is primarily low-paying, shift work. She wishes there were "good jobs" closer to home, and feels like government and private developers have passed her neighborhood by. On her way to work, Barb sees new businesses popping up in the suburbs. She'd like to see new businesses in her neighborhood. She's noticed that many of her neighbors have entrepreneurial spirit – whether it be selling homemade lunch plates, or opening music recording studios in their homes.
Barb and her neighbors have heard that the city is launching a new low-interest loan program for organizations willing to bring healthy food to areas like hers. She'd like her neighborhood association to make the case for a location in Riverside–maybe even turning one of those abandoned warehouses into a full service grocery store. She feels at a disadvantage because other neighborhoods have paid professionals making their proposals, and hopes she can find something on the internet to help level the playing field. She does her best during her lunchtime research, but the web sites she finds are tricky to use, and she blames herself for not being good with computers. She pulls together a few statistics, but there's not enough time to pull together a full proposal for this round, so they let it go.

Gerald - Formerly Incarcerated Person reentering society

Gerald is a 35 year old father who was recently released from prison after serving 8 years in prison. Gerald was incarcerated in a state facility, in a rural area, far from the mother of his two boys Laquan, 9, and Terrell, 11. As a result, Gerald's relationship with the boys is tenuous because it was hard for their mother to bring them to visit and she could not afford more than two collect calls per month. During his incarceration, Gerald reflected on his childhood and the role, or lack thereof, his father played in his life and how that contributed to some of the bad choices he made, which lead to his incarceration. Thus, Gerald is committed to being a positive influence in his sons' life and ultimately hopes to reunite with their mother, Karen. Gerald knows Karen lives in public housing and he and Karen hope to get him added to the lease so Gerald can live in the home and be a full time dad to the boys.
When Gerald was released from prison he was given a bus ticket to his old neighborhood. He had the clothes on his back and the only money he had was the account balance from his prison account. During his incarceration, his grandmother who raised him died and her children decided to sell the family home, thus Gerald did not have anywhere to call home. Luckily for him he found a homeless shelter to live temporarily but it's not ideal because he doesn't like putting that address down on job applications. Also, the only identification Gerald has right now is his prison ID. He doesn't have a birth certificate, or a social security card, and is embarrassed to try to cash the check containing his account balance from prison with his prison ID.
During his incarceration, Gerald made great strides to improve himself. He obtained his GED, completed a substance abuse program, and earned a vocational certification in electrician technology. Gerald is excited about using the skills he learned in prison because the construction industry is making a comeback where he lives and there is huge demand for licensed electricians. Gerald catches the bus to the library to research next steps on how to become a licensed electrician. He downloads the application and returns to the homeless shelter excited about the future.

James - Neighborhood leader needing data for effective advocacy and planning.

James is a semi-retired real estate agent who lives in the Fairmont Park neighborhood. The park is located on a major thoroughfare, with a busy bus transfer point along one side. This summer the bus stop was plagued by night-time armed robberies committed by teenagers, and now everyone is on edge. Some people say that the broken streetlights surrounding the park are partially to blame.
The park takes up a full city block has no amenities, except a small corner with aging play equipment made out of metal too hot for kids to play on in the summertime. There are nice playgrounds at nearby private schools, but those aren't open to the community. James has talked to the City's Parks & Rec department, and they don't have funds to install new playgrounds. They barely have enough resources, they said, to keep the grass mowed.
James's wife works for a nonprofit agency, and recently saw a grant competition for new playgrounds. James thinks Fairmont Park has a shot at getting a grant, especially if they partner with the neighborhood across the street, Oakwood. Between these adjacent neighborhoods there are lots of kids – even more kids who would use the playground if you count those children waiting with their parents at the bus stop!
James knows from living in the neighborhood a long time that the Fairmont Park neighborhood is middle income and racially and ethnically diverse, and Oakwood neighborhood is home to low income, mostly African American families. He reaches out to Ronald, a neighborhood leader in Oakwood he knows from last year's community planning meetings that were part of the city's new Master Plan.
They decide to split up the work writing the grant proposal. James' experience in real estate has taught him how important location is, and Ronald, whose day job is a public school PE teacher, has some specific ideas about features for the play equipment. He and Ronald would like to include a map in the grant proposal that shows how central Fairmont Park is for commuters, and children without access to other places to play. And they want to highlight how the park could bring together these two neighborhoods. They are so excited about the idea of turning Fairmont Park around, that they're even talking about what they'll do once the playground gets installed: they'll approach the city about getting those streetlights repaired, and maybe a monthly arts market, too. James takes a screen shot of Google maps, and draws arrows and boxes on it in Powerpoint, and they include it in the appendix of the grant proposal.

Jen - Military spouse searching for jobs after moving.

Jen is a 35 year old professional, mother of two young kids, and for the last ten years she has been married to Kyle, a Staff Sergeant in the United States Army. Jen is proud of the support she provides her husband as a military spouse, but she has often found it difficult to maintain her own professional identity due to the mobile lifestyle that military service leads to. The family has recently learned that Kyle has been reassigned to a different installation and they will have to pack up, sell their house, and relocate their family in the matter of a few weeks.
For the last five years, Jen and Kyle have lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Kyle is stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville while Jen commutes more than a two-hour round trip to Raleigh, North Carolina to work at her job as a registered nurse. While Jen thinks of herself as a mother and wife, she is proud of her career and loves helping others. At her job, Jen has become a valued member of a number of specialized nursing teams. If Kyle were to continue to be stationed at Ft. Bragg, Jen could see herself building upon the nursing skills she's acquired and pursuing further education. Jen's career success has not been easy. During their ten year marriage, Kyle and Jen have moved across state lines three times, once being to Germany. Each time they move, they must move out of and into a new house, find child care for their two young kids and assimilate into a new community. This has resulted in Jen having to put her career on hold several times; the end result being that Jen has not been able to progress in her career and has often had to start over at new locations.
In the last week, Jen has been extremely anxious and fearful because of Kyle's impending reassignment to Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia. Because of Kyle's job, the responsibilities of the pending move have fallen to Jen. She has had to take multiple days of leave to take care of the logistics of moving – selling the house, finding child care for the kids, and thinking about what this move means for her career. Jen knows next to nothing about Columbus beyond what Google and Wikipedia tell her. From what she can tell, there do not appear to be many, if any, hospitals in the area that specialize in the sort of skills she has developed. Moreover, she's not sure how state licensing issues will affect her ability to find work.
Jen wants to begin sending out resumes and doing more research, but she just doesn't have the time. Jen is planning on resigning from her current job in the next few days, and she's afraid that this move will mean that she has to put her career on hold again. Jen knows the statistics: military spouses face a 25 percent unemployment rate and a 25 percent wage gap compared to their civilian counterparts.
Jen tries her best to figure out whether there's a job she would enjoy and is qualified for in Columbus. She finds a number of job websites with job postings that appear interesting, but they either require a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree or have job titles that make it unclear whether her skills would be a good fit. As Jen begins to develop her resume, she wishes that there was a common language that would make translating her skills and experiences easier. She knows that she is qualified for a number of positions but is worried that her resume will not stack up against others.

Loretta - Family experiencing homelessness transitioning out of shelter.

Loretta, 24, is a single mom of a 4 year-old with autism and a 2 year-old who being tested for the same thing. They have been in a congregate shelter with a dozen other families for a year. She has concerns that the over-stimulative atmosphere in the shelter is preventing effective support for their needs. She's been using the time in shelter to rebuild after an abusive marriage that left her in deep financial trouble. While in shelter, the case manager has helped her secure her HiSET (formerly GED). Loretta successfully completed a training program, and became a CNA at a nursing facility about 25 miles from the shelter, in a middle-to-high income community. Loretta's children attend specialized day care centers close to work. Their pediatricians are in that area as well. Although she's had some setbacks -- a car accident that put her out of work for a month, and the theft of one whole paycheck by another resident of the shelter -- she still feels that since her job is secure, and she's worked on her credit, she is ready to begin looking for her own apartment.
The state offers a short term rental assistance program that will provide $8,000 for first, last, and security, with the remaining balance to be paid as a monthly rent stipend for 10 months. Although this would provide security for her initial move out, she is afraid that the rents for apartments close to where her job and all the family supports are would be too expensive after those 10 months are up. She does not want to end up back in shelter. Communities with much more affordable rents are 50 miles away from her job and all the supports that help her children with their special needs. She is also concerned about some of the hurtful comments about African Americans and Latinos she has heard from people when she and her children are out in the community where she works, and is concerned that they might not be treated fairly when searching for apartments nearby. She has applied for Section 8 and housing lotteries in every feasible community, but knows that those wait times can be years, and would rather find the right fit to use the 10-month subsidy program, so she decides to move to the apartment 50 miles away. She uses her ten months to change jobs, daycare and doctors.

Lynn - Section 8 voucher holder/low-income renter searching for housing.

Lynn is a 35 year old mother of 3 who has had a Section 8 voucher for the last year. She and her kids live in an apartment in a low-income neighborhood. After going out for errands with a friend out in the suburbs a few months ago, she has since been extremely committed to finding a new place for her kids to live that has green space and trees, which she had never even thought was an option before. She found out that she could use her voucher in the suburbs too. The neighborhood where she lives now has no parks and nowhere for her kids to play sports, even though they love it. Their schools had to cut a lot of their athletic programs. She wishes she lived closer to a supermarket that had good fruits and vegetables and more options for her kids to try so they can develop good eating habits. She doesn't like having to give them junk food which seems to be everywhere at her supermarket.
Lynn works as a receptionist in an outpatient facility at a hospital and doesn't have a car; she relies on public transit or for her sister to drive her and the kids when she can. Lynn is excited to start looking for a new place, but worries about how to get around without a car, because it seems like you have to drive in the suburbs, and she's not sure the buses even go there. She's worried it might be tough for her kids to transition schools.
Lynn is able to get a ride out one day to look at places in one of the towns that her sister has been to, which is an hour away from her apartment. They look in newspapers and go on craigslist every day for two weeks and find a couple of places. She goes to one, who won't take section 8. She's probably already spent $80 on application fees, only to be rejected. The day is running out, and she decides to go ahead with the 3rd one she sees. She is so relieved when the landlord at the third place tells her that she takes vouchers, she signs up on the spot. If she doesn't like it, she can always move in a year. This is the only day she has to look, and even though she doesn't really know a lot about the area, it has grass and trees and big rooms for her kids, so she's happy. The landlord tells her the schools are good. She still worries she doesn't know enough about the schools and how she'll get around.

Supervisor Miles - Rural county official seeking to attract new business/industries.

Supervisor Miles is an elected county official who represents Tea County, Virginia, which is located in the Appalachian region of rural southwestern Virginia. For years, Tea County has seen a troubling increase in unemployment. This increase is largely due to the decline of the coal industry, which had previously held the region far above the poverty line. Now the county sits in the middle of a rural region struggling with extreme and persistent poverty.
Paralleling the rise in unemployment, the region has seen a similar increase in drug trafficking and substance abuse. Tea County is a stone's throw from multiple interstate corridors, making it easily accessible to drug traffickers, and the county's small police force struggles to patrol this vast and intricate network of highways and county roads. The county's relatively limited public health resources also struggle to identify and provide treatment to those struggling with substance abuse in Tea County.
On the other hand, the price of land in Tea County is incredibly low compared to some of the more urbanized pockets that surround the region. Supervisor Miles views this as a major draw for potentially incoming businesses and industries. He also believes that the numerous unemployed individuals in Tea County, many of whom have been educated at the various institutions of higher education in surrounding counties, could provide an eager workforce for any incoming employers. Even the proximity of Tea County to major interstate systems, which worsens the county's substance abuse problem, can be presented as an advantage to potential employers who would be able to quickly move products to numerous markets across the east coast.
If Supervisor Miles is able to effectively paint this picture to potential employers – real estate pricing, eager workforce, plentiful educational opportunities, current and potential infrastructure – he can attract these employers to Tea County and ultimately help to bring his county, and the surrounding region, out of its current tailspin.
Unfortunately, Supervisor Miles lacks the resources necessary to convey this message to employers – he is able to ascertain property values generally by viewing housing listings, but lacks well-structured data on residential real estate and doesn't have any data related to commercial real estate prices. He knows based on conversations with his colleagues and members of the community that many young residents in Tea County are unemployed, but has little or no information on the levels of unemployment or geographic concentration of unemployed residents. Even when it comes to roads and highways, he may be able to show maps to potential employers, but lacks data that specifically lays out the connectedness of Tea County to surrounding areas and metropolitan centers.

Tanya - Section 8 voucher holder/low-income renter searching for housing.

Tanya is a 25-year-old mother of 6-year-old and 4-year-old boys. She just received a Section 8 voucher after 2 years on the waiting list. She's been living in several different places over the last few years. After she turned 18 and had a baby, she wanted a household of her own and rented a unit in a building where her cousin had a place, but lost her job when she her childcare became unreliable (her boyfriend's mom couldn't help as much as she had promised), then lived with her sister and then in public housing. Her voucher means to her that she'll be able to have a nicer place of her own with her kids. She wants them to live in a safer building where they can have quiet after school to do their homework as they get older. She doesn't like the crime in the neighborhood where she is now, but she can keep her sons inside and there is at least someone she knows in the area to watch them when she really needs it.
Tanya works and takes care of her kids on her own so she doesn't have a lot of time to look for a place. She doesn't have a car and gets around mostly on the bus or by walking. Since last year, her youngest has been with an older neighbor during the day who runs a daycare from her home.
The worst thing for her would be to lose the voucher, and she knows from hearing from other people that it's not easy to get a place. You have only 2 months, and some of the landlords won't take you once they know you have Section 8. There's a certain amount she can spend and she gets 2 bedrooms for her and her 2 little boys. She can't spend more than the specific amount. She is actually not totally clear on the process and the people who are supposed to answer questions aren't very friendly.
Tanya starts calling landlords and the first 6 units either don't take voucher holders or are too expensive. She looked on the website GoSection8 and found more places that took her voucher, but didn't have as much luck finding a place she liked. Tanya is getting nervous about running out of time, and she has a friend who used a Section 8 voucher in a building just a few blocks away from where she's living now, so she's planning to go to the same landlord. It's safer and cleaner than where she is now and she hopes they will take her voucher.

See more user scenarios

Step 04

Explore Data

Once you have defined the problem from the end user's perspective, dig into data to find information that could help to solve the problem. To help you find and use federal and local government data, we pulled together some of the best and most relevant open data sets about economic opportunity, such as job locations, transportation, affordable housing, health care facilities, and schools.

Determine what data could address the end-user needs you identified in your user research. For example, if your user research showed you that youth experiencing homelessness need to access information on shelters and job opportunities through Wi-Fi on their phones, you may want to build a web app and use local government data on library locations, public Wi-Fi hotspots, and shelters.
Identify key characteristics of the data sets you need, such as the level of granularity (e.g., you may need neighborhood or address level information, rather than city level, for the data to be useful) or frequency. For example, when building a product to help individuals search for jobs, very frequently updated data would be the most useful.
Connect with a federal or local government agency who can act as a data steward for your project. Many data sets are owned by agencies who understand the data in detail and will be able to answer relevant questions.
Use the resources listed below as a starting point to find your data sets.
Pro tip for techies: Cut down on data discovery time by using existing tools, wrappers, and tutorials. Check out the list provided in the resources list below. Have questions or feedback about the data? Let us know on GitHub.

Data Inventory

Browse federal and local data sets with neighborhood-level information on economic opportunities and local resources, and download a metadata file with more information on the year and format of the data, as well as a short, plain-language description of the data set's content.

Federal Data: Find information for the whole nation on poverty, employment, school equity, transit safety, and much more.

Federal

Curator	Description
BLS	Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Census	American Community Survey (ACS)
	CitySDK - American Community Survey (ACS)
	LEHD Origin Destination Employment Statistics (LODES)
	Other Developer Resources
DHS	Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD)
DOT/HUD	Location Affordability Index
ED	Civil Rights Data Collection
ED	ED Data Inventory
EPA	Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping (EJSCREEN)
EPA	Smart Location Database
HHS	Locations of Federally Qualified Health Centers
HHS	Locations of Head Start Centers
HUD	Promise Zones
	Choice Neighborhoods Grantees
	Environmental Health Hazard Index
	Jobs Proximity Index
	Labor Market Index
	Low Poverty Index
	Low Transportation Cost Index
	Racially/ethnically concentrated areas of poverty (RECAP)
	School Proficiency Index
	Strong Cities, Strong Communities Initiative Areas ("SC2")
	Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grantees ("SCI")
IMLS	Locations of museums
IMLS	Locations of public libraries
OMB	Promise Zones and other place based initiatives boundaries CSV (also available as JSON)
USDA	Access and proximity to grocery stores
	Aggregate Tenant Data on Active properties
	All USDA Economic Research Service Geospatial APIs (for reference)
	County classifications (including rural urban spectrum and major industries)
	Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservation (FDPIR) sites
	Information on Rural Housing Service Active Housing Assistance investments
	Local foods locations (e.g., farmers markets accepting WIC/SNAP; farms with direct sales)
	Locations of SNAP (food stamp)-approved retailers
	Locations of grocery stores

Local Data: Find neighborhood level information on things like homelessness, parks, crime, and healthy corner stores

Baltimore

Topic	Description
311	311 service requests
311	City services
Code enforcement	Environmental code violations
Crime	Public safety data sets
Parcels and addresses	Arrests
Permits	Housing permits
Permits	Propertise with permits obtained for work exceeding $50,000
Preschool/daycare	Child family health and wellbeing data sets
Privately owned assets	Restaurants
Publicly owned land	Culture and arts data sets
	Park locations
	Vacant buildings
Schools	2010-2013 school data
Transit	Transportation data sets
Zoning	Zoning boundaries

Chattanooga

Topic	Description
311	311 service requests
Addresses	Address points for all city addresses
Community Survey	Summary results from 2012-2015 community survey
Parcels	Parcels with assessor data
Permits	All city permits

Detroit

Topic	Description
311	Submitted issues
Code enforcement	Blight violation locations
Crime	Public safety data sets
Parcels and addresses	Property and parcels
Permits	Permits
Preschool/daycare	Childcare locations (licensed or registered providers)
Privately owned assets	Churches
	Full-line grocery stores
	Hospitals
	Recreation centers
Publicly owned land	Parks
	Public libraries
	Vacant lot sales
Schools	School locations
Schools	Schools with average commute
Transit	Bike lanes
	Bus routes
	Smart bus routes
Zoning	Detroit zoning

Indianapolis

Topic	Description
311	Service cases
Code enforcement	Violations and investigations
Crime	IMPD Citizen Complaints
Permits	Building permits

Kansas City

Topic	Description
311	311 Call for service requests
Code enforcement	Code violations
Crime	2014 Crime data
Parcels and addresses	Solid waste management
Permits	2014 building permits
Preschool	Daycare regulations
Privately owned assets	Resturants
Publicly owned land	Vacants
Schools	School locations and attributes
Transit	Bike KC Survey results
Transit	KCATA bus stops
Zoning	Zoning code information

Los Angeles

Topic	Description
311	311 Call Center Tracking Data
311	311 Data
Code enforcement	Building and Safety Code Enforcement Case
Code enforcement	Listing of Active Businesses
Crime	LA County Datasets, Criminal
	LAPD Map Server
	Public Safety Layers (LA County)
	Safe City Datasets
Employment	Work Source Centers Location And Contact Info
Health and environment	CalFresh SNAP Authorized Farmers Markets
	California Health & Human Services Datasets
	Department of Mental Health (DMH) Provider Directory
	Environment Layers (LA County)
	Health & Mental Health Layers (LA County)
	Hospital Building Data
	Licensed Residential Facilities and/or Certified Alcohol and Drug Programs
	Women Infants and Children (WIC) Authorized Vendors
Homelessness	Point in Time Homeless Counts Results
Housing	2015 Registered Foreclosure Properties
	HCIDLA Affordable Housing Projects Catalog And Listing (2003 To Present)
	Housing & Community Investment Service Locations
	Housing and Community Investment Department Map Server
Parcels and addresses	Accessor Parcel Change File
	Landbase Information Map Server
	Parcels
Permits	Building and Safety Permit Information
Permits	Bureau of Engineering Permit Information
Preschool/daycare	Child Care (LA County)
Publicly owned land	City Facilities
	Department of Recreation and Parks' Facility and Park Information
	Library Branches
Schools	Education layers (LA County)
	School Districts (LA County)
	School Garden Locations
	Schools (LAUSD)
Transit	Bike Count Data Clearing House
	LADOT Map Server (Bikeways, Parking lots, Crosswalks and more)
	LADOT Traffic Counts Summary
	Metro Bus and Rail Map Server
	Street Information Map Server
Zoning	City Planning Map Server
Zoning	Zoning reference table

Louisville

Topic	Description
ABC License Data and other location based licenses	Listing of all active ABC licenses including the name of the establishment, type of license, location and more. Homeless Shelter, Pawn Broker, Outdoor Advertising
ALL Checks	CSR (now develop louisville + community Services): Reflects the funding source used for payments and how much total payments were from CARE - a Data collection system used by the Family Assessment and Support Services program areas to document the requests for information & referral and the case management of clients.
APCD Asbestos Removal Permits	APCD Asbestos Removal Permits: Air Pollution Control
APCD Gasoline Dispensing Construction Permits	APCD Gasoline Dispensing Construction Permits
APCD Gasoline Dispensing Operating Permits	APCD Gasoline Dispensing Operating Permits
APCD Industrial Construction Permits	APCD Industrial Construction Permits
APCD Industrial Operating Permits	APCD Industrial Operating Permits
APCD Open Burning Permits	Open Burning Permits
Abandoned Urban Property	Inventory held over 1 year includes data for properties NOT owned or controlled by Metro.
Account Breakdown by Program Area	A monthly summary for the number of cases where financial services were provided and total funding spent by funding source and program area.
AirNow API	Air quality forecasts and raw air monitoring data (not quality-assured) for ozone and particulates. Can programmatically access raw air monitoring data for ozone and particulates and air quality forecasts.
Alleys	Alleys in Jefferson County.
Animal Bites	Attributes of animal bite incidents reported to and investigated by Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness. Personal/identifying data has been removed.
Animal Service Intake and Outcome Data	List of all instances of animals brought into Animal Services with outcomes. This is the source data for the number of animals taken in by Animal Services and the number of animals transferred out of Animal Services.
Animal Services Intake	The number of animals that Metro Animal Services takes in during a month.
Animal Services Inventory Data	Louisville Metro Animal Services is committed to increasing openness and transparency of government. This is raw data from our operations database about each of the animals currently listed in the inventory, including lost and found pet reports from the public.
Animal Services Outcomes Data	Louisville Metro Animal Services is committed to increasing openness and transparency of government. This raw data from our operations database includes historical information about the outcomes of animals who are no longer included in the inventory.
Animal Services Transfer	The number of animals transferred out of a Metro Animal Services facility in a month
Animal Tag Data	List of all animals processed by Animal Services.
Application Reports	Shows client, application, benefit amount, etc. - from CASTiNET - Client intake system for Monetary Applications paid to various different vendors as well as LIHEAP Subsidy/Crisis payments paid to LG&E, financial reconciliation with OMB and LeAP.
Assaulted Officers	Incidents of Officers assaulted by individuals since 2010
Average Hospital Turnaround Time	The time from arrival of an EMS unit at a hospital to its departure time.
Bank Branches Data	List of Bank Branches participating in the Bank On Louisville Program
Bike Route Data	Quickly map bike routes in and around Louisville.
Boarding And Cleaning Monthly Backlog	Boarding And Cleaning Monthly Backlog: Code and Regulations.
Boarding and Cleaning Cases Resolved	The total number of cases resolved for the boarding, cleaning and cutting of vacant and abandoned properties.
Boarding and Cleaning Requests Received	The total number of request received for the boarding, cleaning and cutting of vacant and abandoned properties.
Boards & Commissions Data	Data used by PVA in their analysis of construction changes to business and residences.
Booking Reports	Events which are being held, in what complex, what the function is, time and date, the customer, and who the maintains the field/park.
Building Code Permit Enforcement Cases	Building Code Permit Enforcement Cases
Buildings	Building footprints from 2012 in Jefferson County. The Buildings (BG) layer consists of photogrammetrically interpreted polygons representing roof outlines of manmade structures in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
CARE Denials	Summary count of denial reasons documented from CARE - a Data collection system used by the Family Assessment and Support Services program areas to document the requests for information & referral and the case management of clients.
CARE Outcomes	Summary count of all outcomes documented. Summary count of denial reasons documented from CARE - a Data collection system used by the Family Assessment and Support Services program areas to document the requests for information & referral and the case management of clients.
Care Reimbursements	SSI reimbursements received for a given time period broken down by client's name and transaction credited from CARE - a Data collection system used by the Family Assessment and Support Services program areas to document the requests for information & referral and the case management of clients.
Cemeteries	Active and inactive cemeteries in Jefferson County.
Civilian Fire Injuries	Civilian Fire Injuries
Closed ABC Cases	ABC Cases: Codes and Regs
Code Enforcement Board	Code Enforcement Board
Community Ministries Areas	Community Ministries Areas in Louisville.
Community Ministries Sites	Listing of Community Ministries locations and information.
Community Partners Data	Bank on Louisville's Community Partners.
Complaints	Attributes of Public Health related complaints reported by the public and investigated by Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness. Personal/identifying data has been removed. EstID column can be joined to the EstablishmentID column in the Establishments table to show attributes of the establishment when a regulated establishment is involved.
Construction Review - Active Permits	All permits issued by Develop Louisville department.
Construction Review - All Permits	All permits issued by Construction Review department.
Construction Review - LGE Inspections	A dataset that is delivered to LG&E to determine when and where upcoming inspections will be performed.
Construction Review - PVA Report	Includes all expenditures by agency, with additional data including funding source, vendor name, and amount invoiced. Data from 2008 to Present.
Crime Data	Crime data is provided for Louisville Metro Police Divisions only; crime data does not include smaller class cities.
Daily LMDC Population Snapshots	Daily snapshots of inmates held in Louisville Metro Department of Correction facilities
Development Funds Unspent Over 24 Months	Development Funds Unspent Over 24 Months . Sum of money in relevant LeAP cost centers that were funded greater than 24 months before the report date.
Downtown Public Parking	This contains public parking facilites in downtown Louisville that are owned and managed by the Parking Authoring of River City (PARC), Riverside Parking, System Parking and many others.
Emergency Home Repairs Over 30 Days	Emergency Home Repairs Requiring Over 30 Days to Complete . Number of cases starting during month with >30 days from completed app to repairs complete (or current date if open).
Emergency Warning Sirens	Locations of Emergency warning sirens in Louisville.
Employee Salary Data	Contains all salary data for Metro government employees from 2008 to Present.
Establishments	Attributes of establishments that are currently inspected by and/or regulated by Louisville Metro Government. Personal/identifying data has been removed. EstablishmentID column can be joined to the EstablishmentID column in the Inspections table to show attributes of any inspections of the establishment.
Expenditures Data	Includes all expenditures by agency, with additional data including funding source, vendor name, and amount invoiced. Data from 2008 to Present.
	Includes all expenditures by agency, with additional data including funding source, vendor name, and amount invoiced. Data from 2008 to Present.
	Includes all expenditures by agency, with additional data including funding source, vendor name, and amount invoiced. Data from 2008 to Present.
	Includes all expenditures by agency, with additional data including funding source, vendor name, and amount invoiced. Data from 2008 to Present.
External Monitoring Visits with Findings	Count of all audits and monitoring visits with findings during reporting period.
Fire Building/Business Inspections	Fire Inspection: Louisville Fire
Fire Department Fuel Usage	Gallons of fuel used each month.
Fire Home Inspection	Fire Home Inspection: Louisville Fire
Fire Incidents	Fire Incidents
Fire Property Damage	Fire Property Damage: Louisville Fire
Fire Response	Fire Response
Foreclosures Initiated	Count of vacant/abandoned properties on which Metro has initiated a foreclosure.
Form Districts	Form Districts are areas with distinct boundaries to which a set of regulations governing the pattern and form of development and redevelopment applies.
HR Requisition Log	A database listing all job requisitions for Metro Government positions handled by the Human Resources Recruitment Division, including current status.
Historic Areas	Data from the Metro Landmarks Commission, Kentucky Heritage Council, and National Register of Historic Places about National Historic Landmarks in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
Historic Markers	Historic markers for historic sites in Jefferson County. Data is provided to LOJIC from the Kentucky Historical Society.
Historic Property	Develop Louisville: Historic Property
IDIS PR 02 List of Activities by Program Year and Project	A snapshot of all activities (open, completed, and cancelled) by program year and project. This report will show us the funded amount, drawn amount and the current balance of each activity.
IDIS PR 22 – Status of HOME Activities	The current status of HOME activities by program year and includes committed amount and drawn amount. This is a quick reference to see the status of HOME activities for a given year and is a quick glance to see what activities are ready to close.
IDIS PR27 – Status of HOME Grants Report	Financial information on the HOME grant. This helps us analyze our rate of committing and distributing funds to determine if we will meet timeliness guidelines. From Integrated Disbursement and Information System (IDIS).
IDIS PR56 – CDBG Timeliness Report	Analyzes rate of committing and distributing funds to determine if we will me timeliness guidelines. From Integrated Disbursement and Information System (IDIS) - A mandatory system used to track projects funded by HUD grants (CDBG, ESG, HOPWA and HOME funds).
Inspection Violations	Descriptions of violations recorded during inspections by Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness.
Inspections	Attributes of routine and complaint driven inspections performed by Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness. EstablishmentID column can be joined to the EstablishmentID column in the Establishments Table to show attributes of the Establishment when a regulated establishment is involved.
Jefferson County Signalized Intersections	Listing of all traffic signal control devices in Jefferson County (except for a handful of signals in the J-town area that we don't own, operate or maintain). This includes both Metro and State owned traffic signals.
LIHEAP Daily Schedule Report	List of clients based upon site entered and date from the LIHEAP Appointment Database - Provides the ability to schedule appointments for general public clients to meet with LIHEAP staff. Provides reports, employee performance metrics, manages appointment time-slots per location.
LIHEAP Demographics	A complete record of all LIHEAP clients based upon specified Start/End date and Status (Approved, Denied, Pending, All Statuses) including but not limited to total benefit, first/last name, age, race, disability, address, client who processed, application number, application date/time submitted, income, etc.
LIHEAP Employee Report	Shows how many clients were scheduled per employee - from LIHEAP Appointment Database Provides the ability to schedule appointments for general public clients to meet with LIHEAP staff. Provides reports, employee performance metrics, manages appointment time-slots per location.
LIHEAP Report Range for Clients Scheduled	Daily Schedule Report that you can run for a period of time based on Start/End date - from LIHEAP Appointment Database. Provides the ability to schedule appointments for general public clients to meet with LIHEAP staff. Provides reports, employee performance metrics, manages appointment time-slots per location.
LMPD Employee Characteristics	LMPD employee characteristic data including Race, Gender, Current Age, Date Hired, Education Level, Job Title and Assigned Division.
LMPD Hate Crime	Data is subset of the Incident data provided by the open data portal. This data specifically identifies crimes that meet the elements outlined under the FBI Hate crimes program.
Land Use	Develop Louisville: Land use maps.
Landmarks Preservation Districts	Develop Louisville: Landmarks Preservation Districts
LiHEAP Appointment Data	LiHEAP Appointment Data
Licenses Issued	The number of licenses issued by Metro Animal Services each month
Louisville Metro Police Department Police Districts	Police District boundaries for Louisville Metro.
Louisville Streets - Right of Way	ESRI-based Gis shape files that contain all Jefferson County streets and 'right of way' information.
Meals Served Summary	Shows a summary of the number of meals served and delivered for any given time period. This report is submitted to the business office for reimbursement from the state.
Metro Council Districts	Louisville Metro Council Districts
Metro Demolitions	Develop Louisville: Metro Demolitions
Metro Parks Program Registration List	Metro Parks Program Registration List
Metro Parks Volunteer Project Log	Project listing of every volunteer project since the conception of the metro parks volunteer coordinator position in 2005 till the end of the previous fiscal year.
Metro Parks Volunteer Service Log	The number of volunteer hours tracked monthly at various locations and events throughout the Metro Parks system.
Metro Staff Demographics By Ethnicity, Gender, and Education	Metro Staff Demographics By Ethnicity, Gender, and Education - Human Resources.
Metro Staff Demographics by Zip	Metro Staff Demographics by Zip - Human Resources
Metro and Olmsted Parks	Metro Park and Olmsted boundaries.
Municipalities	Municipalities within Louisville Metro. Provided by Kentucky Secretary of State's Land Records office.
National Emissions Inventory	Emissions inventories: emissions reported by regulated facilities and modeled emissions from vehicles, smaller sources, wildfires, etc. Can select data by pollutant and/or geography, then download the resulting data set.
National Register Historic Districts	Develop Louisville: National Register Historic Districts
Natural Areas	Map of 'Natural Areas' in Louisville Metro including (but not limited to) Conservation Easements, State Preserves and Parks, Municipal Parks, the Community Improvement District in Jefferson and Bullitt Counties, Bird Santuaries and Historical Preservation Easements.
Needs	Amount received and reason for payment from CARE - a Data collection system used by the Family Assessment and Support Services program areas to document the requests for information & referral and the case management of clients.
Neighborhood Place Areas	Neighborhood place districts for Louisville Metro.
Noise Citation Management	Codes and Regulations Noise Citation Management
Officer Involved Shooting Database and Statistical Analysis	Officer Involved Shooting Database and Statistical Analysis
Olmsted Parkways	Develop Louisville: Olmsted Parkways
Olmsted Parkways	Olmsted Parkways including Eastern, Southern, Northwestern, Southwestern, and Algonquin.
On-Street Parking Citation Collections	Comparing monthly data: citations issued, citations collected, voids and citations sent to collection.
On-Street Parking Citation Revenue	Compare monthly citation data against dollar amount of citations collected vs. dollar amount of issued citations.
On-Street Parking Meter Repairs	Recorded action performed by shop personnel on all report malfunctioning meters.
PDS Case History	Planning and Design
Park Locations and Amenities	Listing of all parks with address, contact information and amenities available at each location.
Parks Golf Sales Detail	Metro Park's golf sales detail broken down daily by Item, Fee, and Deposit.
Plan Certain Areas	Plan Certain Areas are areas of rezoning where the Planning Commission or legislative body may designate, at the time of approval, elements and restrictions of the approved plan that are an integral part of the development plan and binding them to the use and development of the subject property.
Property Available for Purchase	Properties that are for sale from the Landbank, Urban Renewal and limited Metro-owned parcels.
Property Management Case Inspections	Property Management Case Inspections
Railroads	The Railroad (RR) layer consist of photogrammetrically interpreted polylines representing various active and abandoned railroad features as well as railroad yards, spur lines and railroad bridges.
Recreation Areas	The Recreation Areas layer consists of photogrammetrically interpreted polygons representing various features related to recreational activities such as tennis courts, playgrounds, ball fields, golf courses and swimming pools in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
Residential and commercial recycling tonnage and diversion rate	Residential and commercial main stream rolling 4-year average recycling tonnage and diversion rate.
Restaurant Inspection Scores	Restaurant inspection dates, grades, scores and locations for the past year for all establishments.
Return of Spontaneous Circulation	A person who has no pulse at the time of EMS arrival and EMS paramedics are able to return a pulse for 2 minutes or more.
SPP Report	Client intake system for Monetary Applications paid to various different vendors as well as LIHEAP Subsidy/Crisis payments paid to LG&E, financial reconciliation with OMB and LeAP.
Scenic Corridors Parkways	Scenic Corridors Parkways
School Board Districts	Jefferson County School Board Districts and Anchorage Public School District.
Senior Nutrition Waiting List	Client waitlist scores to know which client needs to be added to the service next. - - from SERVTracker - a data collection system to track Senior Nutrition clients, both congregate and Home-delivered.
Sidewalk Repair Request Data	Rating, linear footage, and repair status for sidewalk repair requests.
Site Addresses	Develop Louisville: Site Addresses
Snow Routes	Snow routes for Louisville Metro.
Solid Waste Management Route Data	SWMS Division
Spot Heights	Point feature class that comprises the photogrammetrically compiled Spot Heights (SH) for Jefferson County, Kentucky. All elevations are in U.S. Feet and cast on the North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988.
State Legislative Districts	Kentucky Legislative Districts within Louisville Metro.
State Senatorial Districts	Kentucky Senatorial Districts within Louisville Metro.
State Snow Routes	State snow routes for Louisville Metro.
Streams	Streams in Jefferson County.
Street Centerline	Develop Louisville: Street Centerline
Subdivisions	Subdivisions are boundaries of recorded subdivisions within Louisville Metro.
Suburban Fire Districts	Fire District boundaries for Louisville Metro Suburban areas.
Sustainability Plan Project Recommendations	Develop Louisville: Sustainability Plan Project Recommendations
Traffic Collisions in Kentucky Annual Reports	This external link displays all the annual reports for traffic collisons in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Traffic Signs	Sign inventory in Jefferson County.
U.S. Congressional Districts	U.S. Congressional Districts boundaries within Louisville Metro.
Uniform Citation Data	A list of all uniform citations from the Louisville Metro Police Department, including case number, date, location, divison beat, demographics, statutes and charges, and UCR codes.
Urban Fire Districts	Urban Fire Districts within Louisville Metro.
Urban Neighborhoods	Urban Neighborhood Boundaries within Louisville Metro. Boundaries as defined in late 70s as part of a Federal grant and are still used today.
Urban Renewal Districts	Develop Louisville: Urban Renewal Districts
Urban Tree Canopy Assessment	The following information was produced from the 2015 Urban Tree Canopy Assessment for the City of Louisville, KY sponsored by the Office of Sustainability.
Vegetation Lines	Tree areas in Jefferson County.
Vehicle Break-in's in PARC Facilities	The total number of vehicle break-ins monthly at PARC facilities.
Vision Louisville Public Input	Economic Development: Vision Louisville Public Input
Volunteer Demographic	Basic demographics of volunteers from Volunteer Works Volunteer management system that records volunteer man-hours and payrate, site locations, contact information for volunteers and site.
Volunteer by Site	Volunteers by site location from Volunteer Works - Volunteer management system that records volunteer man-hours and payrate, site locations, contact information for volunteers and site.
Warning Siren Areas	Warning Siren Coverage Areas within Louisville Metro.
Water Bodies	Bodies of water in Jefferson County
Yelp Data	Listing of geocoded businesses, inspections for those businesses, and health violations for those businesses, used as a feed to Yelp.
ZIP Codes	ZIP Code Areas within Louisville Metro.
Zoning	Zoning contains the zoning districts within Louisville Metro that govern permitted land use, density and intensity of allowed development.
Zoning Overlay Districts	Zoning Overlay Districts contain areas that have increased development guidelines.

New Orleans

Topic	Description
311	Rate of 311 call resolution
Code enforcement	Hearings
Code enforcement	Inspections
Crime	Crimes
Homelessness	Point in Time count
Parcels and addresses	Calls for service
Permits	Building permits
Preschool/daycare	Building preschool/daycare
Privately owned assets	Grocery stores
Privately owned assets	Restaurants
Publicly owned land	Land use of nolas blight/nola-land
Schools	HS graduation rates
	Letter grade of schools 2009-present
	Location of K-12 schools
Special Events	Mardi Gras Parade Routes - Daily Routes (2016)
Transit	Travel time to work
Zoning	Zoning districts

New York

Topic	Description
311	Service requests (2010 to present)
Code Enforcement	Housing maintenance code violations
Crime	7 Major felony incident map
Crime	Historical Crime Data
Health and environment	Child welfare indicators (per NYC council)
Health and environment	Restaurant inspection results
Homelessness	Homeless population by year (09-12)
Jobs	Job listings with location
Parcels and addresses	Property address directory
Permits	Construction pipeline - list of upcoming construction opportunities
Permits	Projected new housing starts
Preschool/Daycare	Day Care centers
Privately owned assets	Selected Facilities and Program sites including schools, parks, libraries, day care, etc
Publicly owned land	Open Spaces
Publicly owned land	Parks
Schools	After school program locations
	School point locations
	School survey
Transit	MTA Data - pertaining to subways, buses, commuter rail, bridges, and tunnels
Transit	Subway stations
Zoning	Hurricane inundation zones (worst case)
	Primary Commercial zoning by lot
	Primary Residential zoning by lot
	SafeRoutes to school priority zones
	Zoning district data

Philadelphia

Topic	Description
311	311 service requests
Code enforcement	Code violations
	Exterior violation cleanups
	Licences and Inspections data (business licenses)
	Properties with ownership information
Crime	Crime incidents
Crime	Public safety data sets
Health and environment	Health Centers
Health and environment	Healthy Corner Stores
Parcels and addresses	Property Parcels
	Snow emergency routes
	Stormwater Billing Parcels
	Street lane closures
	Transportation Parcels
Permits	Real estate/land records
Permits	Residential parking permits
Preschool/daycare	Childcare locations
Privately owned assets	Healthy corner store locations
Publicly owned land	City buildings
	City owned vacant property
	Parks and Rec Out of School Programs
	Parks and recreation
	Parks and recreation assets
Schools	Education data sets
Transit	Bike data
Transit	Transportation data sets
Zoning	Planning and zoning data sets
	Zoning base districts
	Zoning overlay districts

San Francisco

Topic	Description
311	Information requests
Crime	Crime incidents
	Crime incidents map
	Fire calls for service (responses)
Health and environment	Climate and health data
	Community resiliency indicator system
	Health Care failities
Homelessness	2011 Point in Time count
Parcels and addresses	Affordable housing bonus program zoning districts and eligible parcels
	Neighborhood groups map
	Property information
Permits	Registered businesses
Permits	Stree use permits
Privately owned assets	Mobile food schedule
Privately owned assets	Restaurant scores
Publicly owned land	Parks and open space
Schools	SF Private Schools
	SF Public Schools
	School crossing guards
Transit	Bikeway Network
	Public bicycle parking
	Transit stop and schedule
Zoning	Enterprise zones
Zoning	Zoning districts

Washington, DC

Topic	Description
311	Service requests last 30 days
Crime/Public Safety	Crime homepage
Crime/Public Safety	Incidents last 30 days
Health services	HIV/AIDS clinic
Health services	Primary care facilities
Homelessness	Service facilities
Homelessness	Shelter locations
Parcels and addresses	Snow removal route
Permits	Construction permits
Preschool/daycare	Child care locations
Privately owned assets	Supermarket locations
Publicly owned land	DC Parks
	National parks
	Recreational facilities
Schools	Education data page
Schools	Public schools
Transit	Circulator routes
	Main page
	Signed bike routes
Wireless/broadband access	HUB Zones
Wireless/broadband access	Wireless hotspots
Zoning	Planning landuse and zoning
	Supermarket tax credit zones
	Zoning index

See more local data sets

Resources

Data.gov

Search nearly 200,000 data sets from federal agencies. View the Opportunity Project collection of data sets at data.gov/opportunity.

The Opportunity Project Slack

The Opportunity Project commuity on Slack is a great place to ask questions about finding, accessing, or using data sets.

Forums, Tutorials, and Other Tools

Data.world

Data.world created compilation of data sets for teams in The Opportunity Project with space to share feedback on data and collaborate with others using the data. This makes it easy for educators, data scientists, everyday citizens, and students, to discuss, analyze, query, visualize, and easily share their findings.

CitySDK

The U.S. Census Bureau created a series of tools that make it easier to combine and use government data. You can find The Opportunity Project module on the CitySDK website.

Commerce Data Usability Project

The Department of Commerce Data Service has built a number of wrappers and tutorials that make Department of Commerce data sets including our national weather data, Census Bureau data, patent data, and others easier to use.

Kaggle

Kaggle is a community of 600,000 data scientists that have posted a number of USG datasets and great tutorials for new data scientists.

Stack Overflow

Stack Overflow is also a great public forum to ask questions about federal and local data sets.

Stack Exchange

Stack Exchange has a vibrant open data community, which is a great place to ask questions and find quick answers to your data and developer-related questions.

Cisco DevNet

Cisco DevNet built a learning lab that helps their community of 400,000+ developers learn how to work and build with Census Bureau data.

Step 05

Design and Build a Product

Once you identify a problem to tackle, the end users your tool will serve, and the data you will use, you can start building! Work collaboratively to build a digital product, including many voices as possible in the design process and seeking feedback as you design and build. Build iteratively, showcasing early versions and revising your design plans based on feedback. Remember that you don't have to build the perfect or "final" solution in 12 weeks! During this phase, we recommend the whole group communicate frequently and come together remotely or in person every 2-3 weeks to demo their works in progress, ask questions, and share feedback.

Build according to the user research. Use the data you found during data exploration.
Share the concepts, wireframes, and prototypes early and often. Revise your design and plans based on the feedback you receive.
Conduct user testing or feedback sessions to improve the product and ensure that the people who need it are aware it exists.
Develop a plan for tracking success of your tool, such as tracking number of sessions, users, or downloads via tools such as Google.
Think about how you will connect end users with your product once the tool is released: What will your team need to build into the product to as many people as possible can use it? What types of organizations do you need to work with to help connect your tool with the people it's designed to serve?
Think about how you will maintain the tool over time, or what partners you need to help you sustain and continuously update and improve the tool.

Timeline

If you're interested in replicating the Opportunity Project sprint process, here is a sample week-by-week timeline. Feel free to adjust your project plan and milestones based on what works for your team.

Week 1

Choose a general problem statement to focus on.
Week 2

Connect with others to form a diverse team. Establish ways to communicate -- such a listserv, online slack channel, or in-person meetups – so that everyone can collaborate and share progress.
Week 3

Conduct user research and identify a user-driven use case for your product.
Week 4

Identify information that could help to solve the problems you identified in your user research, and then find federal and local data sets with the information you need.
Week 5

Start to sketch out a product. Share sketches, wireframes or a concept pitch to get early feedback from end users, subject matter experts, government employees, and others. Early demos of Minimum Viable Products are part of the lean start-up methodology and lead to faster value delivered to users.
Week 6-7

Continue building based on feedback received from your demo, and continue to explore data and seek ongoing input from user advocates and end users.
Week 8

Conduct another demo and share a more mature and improved version of the product you're building. Seek more feedback, particularly from end users of the tool.
Week 9-10

Keep building, and hold interactive user testing sessions. Plan how you will share the final product with end users and other stakeholders.
Week 11-12

Get everyone involved in the process together to launch the final prototypes or Minimum Viable Products (MVPs).

Beyond the sprint: Continue to improve the tools, share the product with the target end users, and measure your impact.

Resources

Slack

Identify community leaders and other collaborators on Slack to provide feedback on work in progress.

Github

Software developers can use Github to share code, ask questions, post new suggested data sets, share feedback on data, and more. Github is also an invaluable tool for logging issues or bug fixes that need to be addressed.

The Opportunity Project

Toolkit

Step 01

Choose a Problem to Solve

Resources

Problem Statements Defined by Federal Agencies

Detailed User Scenarios

Step 02

Form a Team

Roles we suggest

User Advocate

Federal Agency

Tech Team

Resources

Commerce Data Academy

Code for America Brigade

Slack Community

Step 03

Conduct User Research

Resources

Empathy Isn't Enough

User Centered Design Training

How to Conduct User Interviews

IDEO Design Methods

User Scenarios

Jo - LGBT Youth experiencing homelessness

Samira - Survivor of domestic violence, relocating to new area

Barb – Neighborhood leader needing data for effective advocacy and planning.

Gerald - Formerly Incarcerated Person reentering society

James - Neighborhood leader needing data for effective advocacy and planning.

Jen - Military spouse searching for jobs after moving.

Loretta - Family experiencing homelessness transitioning out of shelter.

Lynn - Section 8 voucher holder/low-income renter searching for housing.

Supervisor Miles - Rural county official seeking to attract new business/industries.

Tanya - Section 8 voucher holder/low-income renter searching for housing.

Step 04

Explore Data

Data Inventory

Resources

Data.gov

The Opportunity Project Slack

Forums, Tutorials, and Other Tools

Data.world

CitySDK

Commerce Data Usability Project

Kaggle

Stack Overflow

Stack Exchange

Cisco DevNet

Step 05

Design and Build a Product

Timeline

Resources

Slack

Github

Step 06

Share with End Users & Stakeholders

Resources

Launch event

Demo Day 2016

Demo Day 2017

Step 07

Keep Improving, Share Metrics & Feedback