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Phase One:
Data Collection
Parcel Pointer Data
Tool
 Technical assistance is
a core part of CMAP’s mission. We support the efforts of local planning agencies
at the regional, municipal and neighborhood levels by offering tools, expertise
and replicable models. As part of our commitment to technical assistance, CMAP
has developed Parcel Pointer, a web-based GIS tool that allows local planning
agencies to track land use and other important data at the parcel level.
CMAP’s intention is not
to be involved in local planning decisions, but to provide tools that local
planning organizations can use to gather the information required for good
planning.
Input systems
Parcel Pointer can
track many attributes associated with parcels of land: land use, age of
structures, property value, historical significance, employment, environmental
sensitivity and many others. Authorized users can update the data via the
internet (using handheld computers if they wish) at any time. Information can be
kept current as changes occur in the community. 
Data input is important
for several reasons. First, local organizations are often interested in data
that is not available from public sources. Second, public data sources can
quickly become outdated in transitional neighborhoods where gentrification,
abandonment or demographic shifts sometimes happen very quickly. Third, local
organizations, given the right tools, can take ownership of data collection in
their neighborhoods in a way that is very difficult for large centralized public
agencies (such as city or county departments) to do.
Output systems
In addition to serving
as a data-gathering tool, Parcel Pointer provides data from public sources such
as the County Assessor’s office and the County Recorder’s office. Outputs can be
generated from user queries and displayed as maps, reports or charts.
For example, a
community organization might wish to view a map or a list of all parcels in
their neighborhood with a land use category of ‘Retail – Grocery.’ Or they might
want to output a list of properties with a previous known sale price greater
than $150,000. Or they may simply like to view all available data fields for a
specific parcel.
Locating a parcel
Parcel Pointer allows users to
locate specific properties via neighborhood maps or address lists.
Neighborhood maps are
interactive, allowing zoom-in, zoom-out and pan functions. But the maps also
serve as parcel locators: clicking a parcel will bring up both existing data for
the selected parcel, and a data entry screen for updates.
Neighborhood maps are
not easily displayed in handheld devices, so Parcel Pointer also includes an
address finder in the form of a dropdown list. Users can view a list of
properties in a particular neighborhood and select one for viewing or update.
Flexibility
Parcel Pointer’s data entry
forms are flexible, allowing different organizations to view only the data they
want to see. For example, housing organizations might choose to see detailed
information about housing (such as sales transaction history or public subsidies
associated with a parcel), while environmental or economic development entities
might choose different fields.
Internet
connectivity
The Parcel Pointer
system is web-based, so users do not need any GIS software on their computers to
use the system. Any internet-enabled computer can call up the maps, data entry
screens and other features.
Internet-based data
collection has great advantages over other methods. The greatest advantage is
that staffers can simultaneously update various parts of the database without
getting ‘out of sync’ with each other. Syncing multiple spreadsheets is
cumbersome; with web systems, data always enters the system through a single
portal so at any time, there exists only one copy of the data.
This also means that
the system is available from anywhere, not just on the computers in the
organization’s offices.
Handheld data
collection devices
The handheld units
deployed for the Full Circle project are not PDAs (personal data assistants),
but rather Pocket PCs connected to the internet via the cellular phone network
(‘smart phones’). This means that data collection is not limited to wireless
‘hot spots’—which are often nonexistent in low-income neighborhoods. It also
means that no docking is needed—a significant advantage over PDA data
collection.
For more information
For more information,
contact Greg Sanders at
gsanders@cmap.illinois.gov, (312) 454-0400.
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