Dallas-Fort Worth cities import
Purpose
This import project will be an ongoing import of government GIS data—mainly building footprints—in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
Sources/Permissions
In almost all (>99%) cases, GIS data produced or purchased by governmental entities is covered under the Texas Public Information Act[1], which is a robust state law that grants the public the legal right to access information produced by governments with few exceptions (mainly to protect confidential information from disclosure). A member of the public can normally submit an Open Records Request for GIS data and a government agency would be legally obligated to provide such data within 10 business days, with no restrictions as to its use or reuse. In short, this means that GIS data carries a de jure public domain license in Texas if it is owned, produced, and/or procured by a government entity in Texas which is subject to the Act, regardless of whether or not a government web page explicit states that the data is public domain or a copy right is improperly claimed.
In response, many cities have begun providing their authoritative GIS data online for download or viewing through Open Data portals. (Note: Many of these OpenData portals will contain standard copyright notices at the bottom of these pages. These may be disregarded because the Texas Public Information Act gives government entities no such right to restrict the usage of data that is subject to disclosure under the Act.)
Methodology
This import will follow the methodology described in the Dallas Import and Fort Worth, Texas import pages, which succeeded in adding several hundred thousand building footprints from the two largest cities in the Metro areas.
Building footprints will be the priority of this import project. The "Replace Geometry" tool will be used in JOSM to preserve the history of any existing building footprints.
Changesets will include the source of the data in the Source field and the hashtag #dfwCitiesImport
Cities Imported
| City/Agency | Status | No. Buildings Imported | Other Data Imported |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Allen | Complete | ~31,000 | |
| City of Richardson | Planned | ||
| Collin County | In Progress | 0 | Parks and Protected Areas |
| City of McKinney | In Progress | Parks, Golf Courses, Trails | |
| City of Frisco | In Progress | Parks, Trails | |
Sources
- ↑ Texas Public Information Act Handbook 2018, Office of the Attorney General https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/files/og/PIA_handbook_2018.pdf