VT Census Case Studies : U.S. Postal Service, Vacancies

Created and last modified by molfe on 02 Jan 2016

Brief Overall Description of the Dataset:

“HUD has entered into an agreement with the United States Postal Service (USPS) to receive quarterly aggregate data on addresses identified by the USPS as having been "vacant" or "No-Stat" in the previous quarter. HUD is making these data available for researchers and practitioners to explore their potential utility for tracking neighborhood change on a quarterly basis. The potential power of these data is that they represent the universe of all addresses in the United States and are updated every three months. Under the current agreement with the USPS, HUD can make the data accessible only to governmental entities and non-profit organizations registered as users.”

Link: http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/usps.html

Date Inventory Completed: 6/22/2015

Screening

  • Is the data collected opinion-based?
  • Is the data collection recurring (must be collected at least annually)?
  • Is there data available for 2013?
  • Is the data collected at the property or housing unit level?
  • Can we access the data by August 15th? Maybe 

Purpose

  • What is the purpose of the organization collecting the data?

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent agency of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the United States.

  • Why is it collected and how does the organization use it?

Explore their potential utility for tracking neighborhood change on a quarterly basis

  • Who else uses the data?

Researchers and practitioners

  • Who do they sell the data to?

Free


Method

  • What is the data collection method? 

Postal workings filling out survey on address information

  • What is the type of data collected? 

Designed collection/Administrative

  • If designed, who created the questions?

USPS

  • What is the raw source of the collected data (prior to any aggregation)? 

Survey answers


Description

  • What is the general topic of the data (1-2 words)?

Housing Vacancies

  • What are the earliest and latest dates for which data is available?

2005 to  2013

  • Is data collected and available periodically?

Every three months (automatically updates to USPS database)

  • How soon after a reference period ends can a data source be prepared and provided? 

Not stated


Selectivity

  • What is the universe (e.g., population) that the data represents?

Data represent the universe of all addresses in the United States


Accessibility

  • How is the data accessed? 

Download (unknown format)

  • Is it open data?

No

  • Any legal, regulatory, or administrative restrictions on accessing the data source?

HUD has entered into an agreement with the United States Postal Service (USPS) to receive quarterly aggregate data on addresses identified by the USPS as having been "vacant" or "No-Stat" in the previous quarter. Under the current agreement with the USPS, HUD can make the data accessible only to governmental entities and non-profit organizations registered as users. This page allows registered users to login and access the data. If you are not a registered user, click on the “register here” link below to request access.

http://www.huduser.org/portal/usps/index.html to begin process

  • Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

 None Stated

Does this dataset appear to meet our needs for the Census study? Maybe

Full Inventory

Description

  • Features
    • What is the temporal nature of the data: longitudinal, time-series, or one time point?

Longitudinal

    • Geospatial? If Yes, at what level?

USPS Vacancy Data is now available at the 2010 Census Tract geographic level. After the 4th quarter of 2012, HUD will no longer be tabulating the USPS Vacancy Data at the 2000 Census tract level.


Metadata

  • Is there information available to assess the transparency and soundness of the methods to gather the data for our purposes?

No

  • Is there a description of each variable in the source along with their valid values?

Only the following:

Total Number of Addresses - This reflects all addresses (residential and commercial) that USPS has recorded in their database.

Total Vacant Addresses - These are addresses that delivery staff on urban routes have identified as being vacant (not collecting their mail) for 90 days or longer.

Total no-stat Addresses - There are many reasons an address can be classified as no-stat, including:

Rural Route addresses vacant for 90 days or longer

Addresses for businesses or homes under construction and not yet occupied

Addresses in urban areas identified by a carrier as not likely to be active for some time

  • Are there unique IDs for unique elements that can be used for linking data?

Unknown

  • Is there a data dictionary or codebook?

http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/usps/USPS_Data_Dictionary_07212008.pdf


Selectivity

  • What unit is represented at the record level of the data source?

Tract

  • Does this universe match the stated intentions for the data collection? If not, what has been included or excluded and why?

Unknown

  • What is the sampling technique used (if applicable)? 

  • What was the coverage?

Unknown


Stability/Coherence

  • Were there any changes to the universe of data being captured (including geographical areas covered) and if so what were they?

Data from and after 2008 distinguished business, resident, and other addresses

  • Were there any changes in the data capture method and if so what were they? 

In March 2010 USPS began implementation of new procedures to improve the accuracy of the vacant indicator. This changeover has led to an increase in vacancies across the nation, causing year-over-year vacancy comparisons and calculations spanning March 2010 to be problematic

  • Were there any changes in the sources of data and if so what were they? 

See above


Accuracy

  • Any known sources of error?

Due to delays associated with separating business and residential addresses, the fourth quarter data for 2007 are not available.

In March 2010 USPS began implementation of new procedures to improve the accuracy of the vacant indicator. This changeover has led to an increase in vacancies across the nation, causing year-over-year vacancy comparisons and calculations spanning March 2010 to be problematic.

  • Describe any quality control checks performed by the data’s owner.

None stated

 

Accessibility

  • Any records or fields collected, but not included in data source, such as for confidentiality reasons)? 

HUD receives quarterly extracts of these data at the ZIP+4 level. Under the license agreement with USPS, HUD must aggregate these data, at least to the census tract level, for public dissemination. Each quarterly extract is geocoded by HUD’s Geocode Service Center (GSC). The ZIP+4 records that do not geocode to the census tract level (e.g., geocode only to the 5-digit ZIP Code level) are excluded from the aggregation process. On average, only about 1% of the ZIP+4 records HUD receives do not make it to the public census tract-level files. With each new quarterly extract, HUD makes an attempt to geocode the non-geocoded ZIP+4 records from the previous extract along with the new ZIP+4 records from the current extract. The GSC’s base data is updated frequently so ZIP+4 records that were not geocoded in the previous quarter may in fact geocode in the present quarter. This accounts for the variance in the number of records in the aggregate tract-level files from quarter to quarter. Users should be aware of this when measuring change between quarters. Also note that ZIP+4 data may not necessarily align with census tract boundaries. In most cases, ZIP+4’s represent a location or set of locations on one side of a single street segment. However, ZIP+4’s can also occur across multiple segments and on both sides of a segment(s) and can possibly straddle a census tract boundary. We are currently evaluating the effect of this occurrence on the data aggregations.

  • Is there a subset of variables and/or data that is must be obtained through a separate process? If yes, is there a separate legal, regulatory, or administrative restrictions on accessing the data source? Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

None stated


Privacy and security

  • Was consent given by participant? If so, how was consent given?

Not stated

  • Are there legal limitations or restrictions on the use of the data? 

Use of the data is permitted only for activities related to the "stated purpose" outlined in the sublicense agreement.

  • What confidentiality policies does the source have? 

See sublicense agreement http://www.huduser.org/portal/usps/sublicense_agreement.html

 

Research

  • What research has been done with this dataset? (e.g., impact of policies, predictors of student success)

While HUD is still exploring the utility of these data, it has identified the following items that may be of use to other researchers and practitioners:

Vacation/Resort areas have very high rates of vacant addresses.Areas with high growth have high rates of no-stat addresses as do areas of significant decline. One way to distinguish these two areas is by comparing Total Count of AMS Addresses between quarters. An increase in AMS addresses with a similar increase in no-stat addresses likely reflects new construction/additions. no-stats with a stable or reduced number of addresses probably reflect long-term vacant addresses.In distressed areas, a reduction in total AMS addresses from quarter-to-quarter appears to be a strong indicator of where demolition is occurring. (Note that if a building is demolished to be replaced by another building, the address will likely be moved to no-stat status and not be removed from the total number of addresses).

  • Include any links to research if provided:
  • List any other data use notes provided by the supplier.

 

Gaps/Concerns

  • Feasibility - can all jurisdiction levels provide the data (if applicable)?
  • Data ownership - a lack of clarity in legal guidance stemming from a lack of clarity with who owns digital data?
  • Data collection authority - what data is reasonably private and what constitutes unwarranted intrusion?
  • Describe any other notes you have or any gaps/concerns you see with this dataset: