In the fall of 2013, the Detroit Blight Removal Task Force commissioned \r Data Driven Detroit (D3), the Michigan Nonprofit Association, and LOVELAND \r Technologies to complete a survey of every parcel in the City of Detroit. This \r effort, called Motor City Mapping, leveraged relationships with the Rock \r Ventures family of companies and the Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation to \r assemble a dedicated team of over 200 resident surveyors, drivers, and quality \r control associates. From December 4, 2013, to February 16, 2014, the team \r collected data on over 370,000 properties, including information on use and \r condition of structures, fire damage, boarding, and the presence of dumping. \r This dataset formed the centerpiece of the Blight Removal Task Force's report, \r "Every Neighborhood has a Future...and It Doesn't Include Blight."

Following the completion of the survey, D3 and LOVELAND have continued \r to collaborate on a second phase of the Motor City Mapping project, involving \r the build-out of a technology infrastructure intended to keep the data updated \r as conditions change across the city. LOVELAND issued a public release of the \r "Blexting" application used to conduct the initial survey, allowing Detroit's \r residents, workers, and community organizations to survey properties across the \r city. Responses, or "blexts", are reviewed by a quality-control team to ensure \r that the information is consistent with the standards set forth by D3 and \r LOVELAND, and then are displayed publicly on www.motorcitymapping.org. This file \r consists of the most recent "blext" for each parcel through October 1, 2014, the \r date that responsibility for surveying and quality control transitioned from D3 \r to LOVELAND.

In addition to the MCM dataset, D3 has enhanced this file with several \r other datasets, including 2014 tax foreclosures and delinquency, likely public \r ownership, and building footprint information. The tax foreclosure data flags \r properties that were likely headed to Tax Foreclosure as of August, 2014, while \r the tax delinquency data dates to June, 2014. Likely public ownership identifies \r properties identified by one of several sources as being owned by a public \r entity as of 2013/2014, while the building footprint information has been \r aggregated to parcel and dates to 2008.

Metadata accompanying this dataset includes field description metadata and a narrative document describing the process of creating the final \r file.

We look forward to seeing how this data can lead to a deeper \r understanding of Detroit! For more information about the Blight Removal Task \r Force, and to download the full report, please visit \r http://www.timetoendblight.com. For more information about the Motor City \r Mapping project, visit http://www.motorcitymapping.org.