4 replies to this topic

[Derek Tonn]

Hello everyone!

Our firm has recently started working with a client who is having us plot the locations of new construction on a variety of area maps. They're great to work with, but we've been having problems with some of the data we're being provided with. They will regularly send us only a street address and five-digit zip code for many of the locations, and many of the new homes are actually being built on new ROADS as well (so typing in a street address and street name into many of the common/free mapping resources out there are of little/no help).

Apart from having someone local and/or in the field helping to manually plot these exact locations, what other ideas might you have for how to plot those locations from afar? Nine-digit zip codes have helped quite a bit in some cases, but nine-digit zips are often not available to us. It can be a time-consuming and sometimes frustrating process to track these exact locations down....so if anyone has any great ideas, I'm all ears!

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Derek

[Hans van der Maarel]

The only thing I can think of is getting in touch with the city/county mapping office (if applicable) and asking them about the new roads. That would be rather time-consuming though.

You could also ask your client to go out there with a GPS receiver and plot a point, but again, that's a time-consuming affair and if your client isn't anywhere near those locations, you're only shifting the problem instead of solving it (although "Somebody Else's Problem" is often an acceptable solution)

[Rick Dey]

Derek

This falls into the similar category as mapping those new streets and trying to get the info. Generally we contact the local City or county and obtain shapefiles for their centerlines. Many entities will also have an address layer with point data. Getting the files from the Government agencies can be a challenge. We have a many year relation with most of the ones we deal with and they may be slightly more forthcoming with the data than they would for a commercial endeavor.

[Jean-Louis]

Well Derek, I am certainly very familiar with that problem...

If you are creating some kind of regular map, and it is essentially a question of accurately positionning new homes in new developments, I dont have any better suggestions than those of Hans and Rick.

If you are doing a 3D-style rendition similar to the stuff we both do, then I'll say that I have never found a solution that is better and quicker than having someone check it out on the ground with camera, pencil and paper. Assuming of course that it is all within the same city

As Hans said the alternative is to shift the responsability to the client. Often they have access to the information you need but the point person is not aware of it. Sometimes also, you can find out that the client is not needing or expecting great accuracy and that gives you more leeway. I know how that can be tricky at times

Keep me posted on this and good luck

[Dennis McClendon]

Welcome to my world!

We work in a lot of towns that claim they have no maps of any kind, or might have one that was drawn back in the 70s. We're trying to do a bunch of towns in Southeast Colorado/Northeast New Mexico right now and just getting a lot of shrugs and embarrassed chuckles when we ask for some kind of map that might show street names.

Anyway, one thing that might help you is to know the subdivision names in addition to the street names. Depending on the sophistication of the market, the subdivision may have a website that will include a plan with streetnames. In smaller towns, I spend a lot of time sweet-talking custom homebuilders and subdividers and Realtors into faxing us subdivision plans.

Most counties now have an addressing/911 coordinator, who keeps up with new subdivisions and streetnames. We also spend a lot of time with those folks.

I'm surprised at how many counties we're finding now that have at least their assessors' maps online. Those often show dedicated streets long before they're actually built. This website may be maintained entirely separately from the planning and zoning or public works GIS, if any.