In the fall of 2013, the Detroit Blight Removal Task Force commissioned
Data Driven Detroit (D3), the Michigan Nonprofit Association, and LOVELAND
Technologies to complete a survey of every parcel in the City of Detroit. This
effort, called Motor City Mapping, leveraged relationships with the Rock
Ventures family of companies and the Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation to
assemble a dedicated team of over 200 resident surveyors, drivers, and quality
control associates. From December 4, 2013, to February 16, 2014, the team
collected data on over 370,000 properties, including information on use and
condition of structures, fire damage, boarding, and the presence of dumping.
This dataset formed the centerpiece of the Blight Removal Task Force's report,
"Every Neighborhood has a Future...and It Doesn't Include Blight."
Following the completion of the survey, D3 and LOVELAND have continued
to collaborate on a second phase of the Motor City Mapping project, involving
the build-out of a technology infrastructure intended to keep the data updated
as conditions change across the city. LOVELAND issued a public release of the
"Blexting" application used to conduct the initial survey, allowing Detroit's
residents, workers, and community organizations to survey properties across the
city. Responses, or "blexts", are reviewed by a quality-control team to ensure
that the information is consistent with the standards set forth by D3 and
LOVELAND, and then are displayed publicly on www.motorcitymapping.org. This file
consists of the most recent "blext" for each parcel through October 1, 2014, the
date that responsibility for surveying and quality control transitioned from D3
to LOVELAND.
In addition to the MCM dataset, D3 has enhanced this file with several
other datasets, including 2014 tax foreclosures and delinquency, likely public
ownership, and building footprint information. The tax foreclosure data flags
properties that were likely headed to Tax Foreclosure as of August, 2014, while
the tax delinquency data dates to June, 2014. Likely public ownership identifies
properties identified by one of several sources as being owned by a public
entity as of 2013/2014, while the building footprint information has been
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
file.
We look forward to seeing how this data can lead to a deeper
understanding of Detroit! For more information about the Blight Removal Task
Force, and to download the full report, please visit
http://www.timetoendblight.com. For more information about the Motor City
Mapping project, visit http://www.motorcitymapping.org.