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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang='en'>
<head>
<title>About - Vacant and Abandoned Building Finder - Chicago</title>
<meta charset='utf-8'>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no">
<meta content='Find vacant and abandoned buildings in Chicago. Data comes from reports made for open and vacant buildings to 311 since July 1, 2018.' name='description'>
<meta content='Vacant and Abandoned Building Finder - Chicago' name='author'>
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<meta content="Find vacant and abandoned buildings in Chicago. Data comes from reports made for open and vacant buildings to 311 since July 1, 2018." property="og:description">
<meta content="https://chicagobuildings.org/" property="og:url">
<meta content="https://chicagobuildings.org/images/screenshot.jpg" property="og:image">
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<meta name="twitter:description" content="Find vacant and abandoned buildings in Chicago. Data comes from reports made for open and vacant buildings to 311 since July 1, 2018.">
<meta name="twitter:image:src" content="https://chicagobuildings.org/images/screenshot.jpg">
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<script src="/lib/jquery-3.3.1.min.js"></script>
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</head>
<body>
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-md navbar-light mb-2">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="/"><img src='/images/logo.jpg' alt="Vacant and Abandoned Building Finder - Chicago" title="Vacant and Abandoned Building Finder - Chicago" style='height: 50px;'/></a>
<button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#navbarsExampleDefault" aria-controls="navbarsExampleDefault" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
<span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
</button>
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse mr-auto" id="navbarsExampleDefault">
<ul class="navbar-nav ml-auto">
<li class='nav-item'>
<a class="nav-link" href="/"><i class="fa fa-map-marker" aria-hidden="true"></i> Home</a>
</li>
<li class='nav-item'>
<a class="nav-link active" href="/about.html"><i class="fa fa-info-circle" aria-hidden="true"></i> About</a>
</li>
<li class='nav-item'>
<a class="nav-link" href="/faq.html"><i class="fa fa-info-circle" aria-hidden="true"></i> FAQ</a>
</li>
<li class='nav-item'>
<a class="nav-link" target='_blank' href="https://311.chicago.gov/s/article/Vacant-buildings?language=en_US"><i class="fa fa-phone" aria-hidden="true"></i> Report a building to 311</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
<main role="main" class="container-fluid">
<div class="container">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-8">
<div class='row'>
<div class='col-md-12'>
<h3 class="mt-4" id="about"><i class="fa fa-info-circle" aria-hidden="true"></i> About this project</h3>
<ul id="faq">
<li><a href="#what-is-this">What is this?</a></li>
<li><a href="#how-does-it-work">How does it work?</a></li>
<li><a href="#who-is-it-for">Who is it for?</a></li>
<li><a href="#why-did-you-make-it">Why did you make it?</a></li>
<li><a href="#where-did-you-get-your-data-from">Where did you get your data from?</a></li>
<li><a href="#how-many-vacant-buildings-are-there">How many vacant buildings are there?</a></li>
<li><a href="#were-there-problems-with-the-data">Are there problems with the data?</a></li>
<li><a href="#what-did-you-use-to-build-it">What did you use to build it?</a></li>
<li><a href="#credits">Credits</a></li>
<li><a href="#press">Press</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="what-is-this">What is this?</h2>
<p>The Vacant and Abandoned Building Finder is a tool for helping people and organizations find buildings in Chicago that are not in use and potentially hazardous to the neighborhood around them. </p>
<p>The original version of this site was created in October of 2011 by Derek Eder (me) and was powered by an early version of my <a href='https://github.com/derekeder/FusionTable-Map-Template'>Searchable Map Template with Fusion Tables</a>. In November of 2019, with the <a href='https://support.google.com/fusiontables/answer/9185417'>impending shutdown of Google Fusion Tables</a>, I updated it to use <a href='https://carto.com/'>CARTO</a> and more modern web conventions (like <a href='https://getbootstrap.com/docs/4.3/getting-started/introduction/'>Bootstrap 4</a>) and pull <a href='https://data.cityofchicago.org/Service-Requests/311-Vacant-Abandoned-Building-Complaints/vauj-4grr/data'>data</a> from the City's <a href='https://311.chicago.gov/s/?language=en_US'>new 311 system</a> that was launched in 2018.</p>
<p>This application is now maintained and hosted by my company, <a href='https://datamade.us/'>DataMade</a>.</p>
<h2 id="how-does-it-work">How does it work?</h2>
<p>With the tools on the left column, you can find buildings that have been reported to 311 as vacant or abandoned. You can also search around an address or intersection and by the date the building was reported.</p>
<p>On the right side the buildings are potted on a map of Chicago. Each point is clickable and will show you details about when the building was reported, if there are any ordinance violations associated with it, as well as a picture of the building itself (courtesy of Google's street view). Additionally, there is a list of resources anyone can use to find more information on the building, or to provide an updated <a href='https://311.chicago.gov/s/article/Vacant-buildings?language=en_US'>report to 311</a>.</p>
<p><img src='images/screenshot.jpg' alt='Chicago Buildings usage' class='img-thumbnail' /></p>
<h2 id="who-is-it-for">Who is it for?</h2>
<p>This tool is free and for anyone who is interested in vacant and abandoned buildings in Chicago. It was built with simplicity in mind; you don't have to be an expert in real estate or Chicago building policy to use it. That being said, it can definitely be used by someone who is, and I hope that it proves to be a useful tool.</p>
<p>It could be used in the following ways:</p>
<ul>
<li>As an educational tool for the general public to make them aware of the number of vacant and abandoned buildings in Chicago and where they are.</li>
<li>By firefighters who want to check if a burning building has people (non-residents) reported in it to determine if they should perform a rescue. If there's no one in the building, they won't have to risk their lives.</li>
<li>By community development organizations to track neighborhood trends in foreclosed and abandoned housing and compare it to demographic data. </li>
<li>By journalists as a research tool.</li>
<li>By the City to more efficiently track vacant and abandoned buildings and manage 311 reports.</li>
<li>By neighborhood groups and concerned citizens to locate and report vacant and abandoned buildings around them.</li>
<li>By urban adventurers looking for cool and interesting buildings to explore and photograph (again, this is probably <a href='faq.html#laws-against-occupying'>illegal</a>)</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="why-did-you-make-it">Why did you make it?</h2>
<p>I am not too much of an expert on the subject of vacant and abandoned buildings, but the data seemed very interesting to me. I created a simple version of this map in April of 2011 and noticed that it quickly became one of the most visited pages on my site.</p>
<p>When the <a href='http://appsformetrochicago.com/'>Apps for Metro Chicago</a> contest was announced, I decided that this tool would be a great candidate for it, so I refined it, expanded it, and spun it off in to it's own site: chicagobuildings.org. It is now a finalist for the Community round I eagerly await the results of the competition.</p>
<h2 id="where-did-you-get-your-data-from">Where did you get your data from?</h2>
<p>The building data comes from two sources on the City of Chicago Data portal:
<ul>
<li><a href='https://data.cityofchicago.org/Service-Requests/311-Vacant-Abandoned-Building-Complaints/vauj-4grr/data'>311 - Vacant/Abandoned Building Complaints</a> - Reports to Chicago's 311 system for Vacant/Abandoned Building Complaints</li>
<li><a href='https://data.cityofchicago.org/Administration-Finance/Ordinance-Violations-Vacant-Abandoned-Buildings/rze8-5mca'>Ordinance Violations - Vacant/Abandoned Buildings</a> - List of ordinance violations filed with the Department of Administrative Hearings related to vacant and abandoned buildings.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="how-many-vacant-buildings-are-there">How many vacant buildings are there?</h2>
<p>Between November 1, 2018 and November 1, 2019, there have been 5,342 unique vacant buildings (by address) reported to 311. On average, 19 vacant/abandoned buildings are reported each day.</p>
<h2 id="were-there-problems-with-the-data">Are there problems with the data?</h2>
<p>There are! This map does not represent the full list of vacant and abandoned buildings in Chicago. Because the data comes from 311 requests and Administrative Hearings, only buildings that are actively reported or in violation will show up on the map. It is likely that there are many more vacant and abandoned buildings than we show here.</a>
<h2 id="what-did-you-use-to-build-it">What did you use to build it?</h2>
<p>This site is built with HTML, CSS, Javascript and Google's Fusion Tables and Maps API. The data is stored in Fusion Tables and is updated every week by a <a href='https://github.com/open-city/vacant-building-finder-import'>PHP script I wrote</a> to import the data directly from the <a href='http://data.cityofchicago.org/'>City of Chicago Data Portal</a>.</p>
<p>Technologies used:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href='https://carto.com'>CartoDB</a></li>
<li><a href='https://leafletjs.com'>Leaflet</a></li>
<li><a href='https://jquery.com/'>jQuery 3.3.1</a></li>
<li><a href='https://github.com/asual/jquery-address'>jQuery Address</a></li>
<li><a href='https://getbootstrap.com/'>Bootstrap 4</a></li>
<li><a href='https://momentjs.com/'>Moment.js</a></li>
</ul>
<p>If you are interested, all the code for this project is open source and up on <a href='https://github.com/datamade/vacant-building-finder'>GitHub</a>.</p>
<h2 id="credits">Credits</h2>
<p>This site was built, designed and hosted entirely by Derek Eder in his own free time for no money. Special thanks to Cristina Sladana from <a href='http://www.fritchey.com/'>Cook County Commissioner Fritchey's Office</a>, Danielle DuMerer from Chicago's <a href='http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/doit.html'>Department of Innovation and Technology</a>, Bill McCaffrey from Chicago's <a href="http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/bldgs.html">Department of Buildings</a> and Chet Jackson from the <a href='http://www.whpdevelopmentcouncil.net/'>West Humboldt Park Development Council</a> for answering all my annoying questions.</p>
<p>Also a big thanks to my wife <a href='http://ayaoconnor.com'>Aya</a> for designing the logo, proofing and giving design feedback and <a href='http://c82.net'>Nick Rougeux</a> for all his continuous sage style (CSS) advice.</p>
<h2 id="press">Press</h2>
<p>Since launching in late September 2011, some great articles have been written about this site:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://gov20.govfresh.com/chicagobuildings-org-maps-vacant-and-abandoned-buildings-using-open-government-data/">Chicagobuildings.org maps vacant and abandoned buildings using open government data</a> on govfresh by Alex Howard</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</main>
</body>
</html>