Open Data

Hollywood Blvd

Los Angeles' Chief Technology Officer Helped to Connect City on Transit and Transparency

Chief Innovative Technology Officer of Los Angeles, Peter Marx, recently stepped down. But first, he offers some lessons learned during his tenure, which included an L.A. mobility app and a successful open data initiative.

August 7, 2016 - The Planning Report.

Crowd

How (and Why) to Start a Local Data Intermediary

A new guide helps communities set up groups that can help analyze their neighborhood data and put it to good use.

June 3, 2016 - Next City

United States from Space

DataUSA: An Intuitive Tool for Public Data

A collaboration between Deloitte, Datawheel, and MIT has produced an intuitive aesthetically-pleasing gathering point for public data in the United States. Specific locations and industries boast easy-to-read profiles.

May 2, 2016 - CityLab

Chicago El

Open Data Tool Boosts TOD in Chicago

A "TOD Calculator" developed by a Chicago non-profit promises to deliver quantifiable, digestible data on the community impacts of transit-oriented development.

March 30, 2016 - Data-Smart City Solutions

It's Raining Data in California's Water Agencies

Open data could be a powerful tool for understanding and managing drought conditions in California, and the state is preparing to release an initial 20 datasets with plans for more.

March 23, 2016 - techwire

Open Data Census Finds States Lagging

The recently released U.S. States Open Data Census discovered that the overwhelming majority of states have a lot of work to do in opening their data to the public.

March 11, 2016 - Government Technology

L.A. Data Viz

Los Angeles Debuts Open Data Visualization Tool

Containing more than 500 open datasets, GeoHub lets users access the wealth of data Los Angeles makes available. The tool is also intended to help employees from different city departments work together.

March 10, 2016 - Next City

Downtown, now

New Tool Accesses Chicago Open Data

OpenGrid gathers together Chicago's open data, letting users specify areas of focus on a map of the city. Users can also overlay different datasets on the same map.

February 27, 2016 - Chicago Magazine

Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority Adopts Open Data Policy

It makes sense that the transit agency serving the Silicon Valley would be one of the first to adopt a formal open data policy.

January 29, 2016 - Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

An Online Portal for Making Sense of Toronto Traffic Data

With so many potential sources of data with which to analyze traffic behaviors and real-time conditions, University of Toronto engineers have created an online portal that could one day help drive a system populated with autonomous cars.

October 25, 2015 - U of T Engineering News

Swedish Bikes

Comparing How People in 12 Global Cities Ride Their Bikes

The workout-tracking app Strava provided generous access to its data to allow a compare and contrast exercise in how people ride bikes in 12 of the most famous cities in the world.

October 9, 2015 - Vox

Bus Bunching

New Tracking System Tackles Bus Bunching

Washington, D.C.'s DOT has adopted TransitIQ, a straightforward tracking technology, to help dispatchers keep buses on schedule.

October 4, 2015 - Mobility Lab

Better Data Means Safer Streets

Open data can be a powerful tool for illustrating the risks to public safety that will have to be overcome as more cities adopt Vision Zero initiatives.

September 8, 2015 - Greater Greater Washington

Philadelphia's Open Data Reveals Land Use Trends

A trove of data from the Office of Property Assessment has been released to the public. It's like Christmas day for zoning wonks in the City of Brotherly Love.

September 6, 2015 - PlanPhilly

Access to Jobs

A Central Hub for Open Data

Designed by researchers at the University of Chicago, the Plenario platform gathers all available open data for a specific area. Then it presents the data in an easy-to-use format.

August 18, 2015 - Government Technology

Working Toward Open Data for Building and Construction Permits

The potential of a standard, easily accessible data set tracking building and land use permits could completely change the way the public interacts with changes in their community.

August 5, 2015 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Angelino Heights

Mapping the Age of Every Building in Los Angeles

Developed using open data from local government sources, built: LA is a mapping tool that displays the age of every building in the county. Much of the area's built environment is surprisingly old.

June 19, 2015 - CityLab

Website Opens Bay Area Transportation Data to the Masses

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission—the Bay Area's regional transportation planning agency—recently did fans of data and mapping a huge favor and launched a website called Vital Signs.

February 7, 2015 - LA.Streetsblog

Snowplow

Pittsburgh Launches GPS-Enabled Snow Plow Tracker

Pittsburgh has a new web-based portal for residents to track snow removal operations as they happen. It's the latest example of a city allowing public access to the details of city operations during snowstorms.

January 22, 2015 - CityLab

'Open by Default': Louisville Opens Data to the Public

Louisville has shown leadership in the open data movement by doubling the amount of data it shares with the public in the past year.

November 3, 2014 - WFPL News

News from HUD User

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Call for Speakers

Mpact Transit + Community

New Updates on PD&R Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Websites

The best of the Internet—since 2002.

Top Apps

Planning apps for a brave new world.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.