Update: Developers Already Using Google Parcel Data

About Directions

Special Announcement

Newsletter Sign Up

Calendar

Syndicate This Blog

RSS 0.91 feed

RSS 1.0 feed

RSS 2.0 feed

Top Referers

myteams.dot.ga.gov (85)
planetgs.com (76)
www.thegisforum.com (76)
manomano.livejournal.com (34)
www.spatialsciences.org.au (32)

Our Points

Friday, October 16. 2009

Update: Developers Already Using Google Parcel Data

Brian already updated it with a "search for parcels within buffer" tool and a measure tool!

--- original post 10/14/09 -----

Brian Flood noted on Twitter his app that links address data and valuations for parcels in Westfield New Jersey. Check it out.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Google at 16:10 | Comments (16) | Trackbacks (0) |

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

I'm not sure that Brian is using the Google parcel information for this. He notes in further tweets that he's searching on the local parcels in an Arc2Earth cloud. But this is all way above my brain-grade...

#1 Mike Mahaffie (Link) on 2009-10-14 07:26 (Reply)

Right - he is definitely searching local parcels, since Google does not yet provide the details on parcles. Still, his selected parcels are overlaying what appear to be the Google parcels (and they match up nicely, so far as I can see). The next step, logically: click on a Google parcel to find the valuation. That'd be instead of using the various search tools in the app (parcel number, address, etc.) The question is: Will Brian or Google do this first?

#2 Adena Schutzberg (Link) on 2009-10-14 08:18 (Reply)

hi adena

you can click on the parcels, make sure you have that option checked ("Click on map to search")

it is a local set of the data but IMO, that's a good thing for the towns. Use the Google base lines to draw people back to your site for either augmented or premium data/services. Feed the parcel updates back out to Google to keep their map tiles fresh and then continuously update your own data.

I'm am using an A2E Cloud instance for this demo, it's extremely inexpensive and will scale if/when you need it.

cheers
brian

#2.1 Brian Flood on 2009-10-14 09:31 (Reply)

Brain,

Thanks for pointing out the "click on map to search" - I didn't see it!

Just so I'm 100% clear - Am I looking at Google Parcels on the map or Westfield NJs? My sense was you were overdrawing Google parcels with your geometry and linking to your valuations for the selected ones.

When you say "feed the parcel updates back out to Google to keep their data fresh," do you mean geometry? Do you mean via an app for via their "partner program" methodology?

Thanks!

Adena

#2.1.1 Adena Schutzberg (Link) on 2009-10-14 09:51 (Reply)

hi adena

the parcel lines are Google's, you can view them without the mapplet loaded. I chose Westfield because it included Google's parcel lines.

I uploaded their parcels as a vector datasource so this is what's used for attribute and spatial searches. I then created 2 additional tile sets (Zoning, Class) and uploaded those as well. The mapplet simply ties all of this data together directly over the Google Maps website (which is nice since you can run other queries as well and have their very nice StreetView built-in)

Westfield's current data seems to match what Google has but you're right, what happens when it gets stale? as a town, you could provide a more current tileset as a value added service. or hopefully, stream your parcels edits back to the web (atompub feeds) where Google crawlers would pick them up. this feed could include all of your attributes or maybe just summary data with links that go back into your site

Right now, Google seems to want entire parcel files but one could imagine that if uniform, highly available edit feeds were available, it would make their job a lot easier (since this is how they crawl the web right now). the side benefit is these feeds would be available to everyone else too.

a final caveat, I have no idea what Google has in store for all of this data but I highly doubt its being done on a whim.

cheers
brian

#2.1.1.1 Brian Flood on 2009-10-14 10:34 (Reply)

Brian will do it first, of course, but not on Google scale/magnitude. Brian will do it for select paying clients, as he should.

Google will never do it, whether because it is not in their plans, or because they have not yet realized that parcels have their own unique, intricate and elaborate characteristics, and are not just another GIS layer.

#2.2 atanas entchev (Link) on 2009-10-14 10:16 (Reply)

I'd be very hesitant to ever say that Google would "never" do something!

#2.2.1 Darrin (Link) on 2009-10-21 16:37 (Reply)

Google will NEVER do this, unless Google takes over local government. This has nothing to do with technology, and everything to do with business process.

Under the current societal structure of the US, local (municipal or county) governments are tasked with maintaining property records, which a map of the property boundary is part of.

I think way too many people got drunk on the Google Kool-Aid. Time to sober up.

For the record, I LOVE Google. Hear that, Google?

#2.2.1.1 atanas entchev (Link) on 2009-10-22 08:16 (Reply)

So, why can't an entity other than local government ALSO perform the same business process, or some part of the business process? If there is a market for information about properties, with some requirements about accuracy, currency, etc, I'm sure someone will (is) address that market need. The need can be met by using the data provided by local government, or if that is not viable, by ALSO maintaining property data and maps. Information on changes affecting property maps, such as splits, combines, subdivisions, etc. are readily attainable, often more so than the property map itself.

#2.2.1.1.1 Chris on 2009-10-22 10:59 (Reply)

Because this particular business process is like no other. I'd go into more detail, but then I'd have nothing to sell.

#2.2.1.1.1.1 atanas entchev (Link) on 2009-10-23 09:16 (Reply)

It's been an interesting week, hasn't it? I guess this is all fun to watch, but all of a sudden I feel old...

#3 Mike Mahaffie (Link) on 2009-10-14 08:32 (Reply)

Brian's app sure looks good. In addition to parcel geometry, Google is also collecting APN.

http://www.google.com/support/mapcontentpartners/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=160415

I suppose Google will eventually expose both Geometry and APN in their Maps API.

Once that happens, sites that give people tools to quantitatively protest CAMA generated assessments will likely follow. http://www.javvin.com/softwareglossary/CAMA.html

Maybe we could stir up an arms race between CAMA vendors and appraisal protest sites.

#4 Kirk Kuykendall (Link) on 2009-10-14 13:09 (Reply)

Kirk,

Good find. I still wonder though - which data were given to Google by its creators and which is licensed from the mystery company? I wonder how much additional info the mystery company provided?

Adena

#4.1 Adena Schutzberg (Link) on 2009-10-14 13:42 (Reply)

I suspect Google cobbled it together from different sources. From a developer's perspective, while it would be nice for google to expose everything it has via their API, it might be complicated keeping track of what API calls are relevant in which areas. Maybe they could provide polygons similar to Building Maker that indicate data presence (and data source).

BTW, I forgot to mention, in states like Texas (and Washington) that have no income tax, property is taxed much more heavily. A successfully protested appraisal can save a tax payer considerably.

#5 Kirk Kuykendall (Link) on 2009-10-16 14:12 (Reply)

I own a small Land surveying company. I have been looking for a way to simplify our records in a visual way. Most of our data is currently in .dwg files. We also have alot of data in .asc point files and .shp files (mostly parcel and other geographic data from local counties). The .shp files are geo-referencedto state plane. I am trying to find some sytem that would either work over our office peer-2-peer network w/network attached storage, or someting web based that I can restrict access to via password. What I would like is to be able to load the parcel boundary .shp file onto a map and then be able to add information about that parcel. So if we do work on a particular piece of property, one one of my staff counld then anotate that parcel with things like the job number, client name, date and type of work and notes. It would be good to be able to search the map by name, parcel number or other input information.

I know this sounds alot like a GIS program. We have one of these (Maptitude), but they are difficult to use for an average person and don't work well over a peer-2-peer network. Plus, in-expensive is always better. I don't need an Arc-Surveyor program. Just a simple visual version of a client card catalouge or metzgers map.

What you have here looks very close. If I can have a local datbase of our own parcel particulars that then projects onto a web based google map that can be picked and easily queried. It would have some way of seeing right away what parcels in an area we have worked on before, like by having them colored or hatched.

Any ideas?

#6 Gary Proctor (Link) on 2009-10-20 14:33 (Reply)

hi gary

what you are describing could definitely be built but would take some customization to get it right. also, since you would like to have it password protected, its not really a good fit for mapplets (google has premium licenses for internal facing applications)

that being said, you could just create your own base tiles or use OpenStreetMap with OpenLayers. All of these options are possible with A2E and since A2E Cloud layers are read/write, you could easily build an app where you update your parcel information online

you can email me directly if you have any more questions: arc2earth@gmail.com

cheers
brian

#6.1 Brian Flood on 2009-10-21 06:50 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. Standard emoticons like :-) and ;-) are converted to images. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above:
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Advertisers

Polls

What's your opinion of the quality of Google's "new" U.S. dataset?

	November '09
Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30