Obtain Shape Files for Different District Types as of Nov/Dec 2021

[akhaleghi]

Overview

We need to obtain shape files for the various district types that represent stakeholders we work with. This is part of the epic issue #118

Action Items

• Identify shape file sources for the following district types:
  • Neighborhood Councils (NCs) | Shape Files Here
  • Supervisory Districts | Shape Files Here
  • Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) | Shape Files Here
  • U.S. House of Representatives that serve LA | Shape Files Here
  • California State Senators that serve LA | Shape Files Here
  • California Assembly members that serve LA | Shape Files Here
  • Zip Code | Shape Files Here
• Save shape files to the data-science repo
  • Neighborhood Councils (NCs)
  • Supervisory Districts
  • Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)
  • U.S. House of Representatives that serve LA
  • California State Senators that serve LA
  • California Assembly members that serve LA
  • Zip Code
• Develop policy for updating files
  • How often do the boundaries change for the different district types?
    • Neighborhood Councils (NCs)
    • Supervisory Districts
    • Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)
    • U.S. House of Representatives that serve LA
    • California State Senators that serve LA
    • California Assembly members that serve LA
    • Zip Code
  • Can these be self-updating via APIs?

Resources/Instructions

Google Drive files here

[akhaleghi]

Notes from conversations with Ryan and Sophia:
What files do we need? There are a bunch in the folder.
Sophia: "so you need all the files in the folder for it to work. geopandas uses shape files or geojson, ArcGIS is the app that is shapefile specific."
Best way to store files?
Ryan: "If we have the space it’s better to archive them. I would make sure to include a link to the source, because sometimes they’ll update the shape files with new edits to the district boundaries, so it’s always good to check for the most recent versions if they’re available."
Additional issues:
Ryan: "The only limitation with GitHub would be file size or if there are any copyright protections on the files. We should make sure they’re open source licensed if we’re going to host them publicly. (probably the case for most public entities, but always good to make sure)"

So we might want to:

• Save all the files
• Add the directory to Google Drive and include a link to the files AND a link to the source URL/date files retrieved to the Resources section of the issue
• Include licensing information/copyright protections in the issue

[akhaleghi]

readme should include (example):
Info Updated
Data Updated
Published Date
Number of Records
License Details