<div dir="ltr">Thank you Ed!</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 5:25 PM, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:znmeb@znmeb.net" target="_blank">znmeb@znmeb.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Done - signed, Scoop.it and tweeted!<br>
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 5:20 PM, <<a href="mailto:arilamstein@gmail.com">arilamstein@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> I just created a petition on <a href="http://whitehouse.gov" target="_blank">whitehouse.gov</a> asking the Obama administration<br>
> to make all census data from all years available via the Census Developer<br>
> API. Please consider signing it and sharing it with other people who you<br>
> think might benefit from this: <a href="http://wh.gov/lnc3J" target="_blank">http://wh.gov/lnc3J</a><br>
><br>
><br>
> On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 2:09 PM, Ezra Haber Glenn <<a href="mailto:eglenn@mit.edu">eglenn@mit.edu</a>> wrote:<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> The acs.R package is limited to data available via the API, listed<br>
>> here: <<a href="http://www.census.gov/developers/data/" target="_blank">http://www.census.gov/developers/data/</a>>. In short, right now<br>
>> it's only the 5-year survey ending in 2010, 2011, 2012.<br>
>><br>
>> In addition, the package can only deal with the "Summary File"<br>
>> variables -- not the "Data Profiles," which are really in a different<br>
>> format -- more like short reports than summary tables.<br>
>><br>
>> In the future, I expect that the census will add the 1- and 3-year<br>
>> summary files to the API, at which point the package will be able<br>
>> fetch those as well.<br>
>><br>
>> --Ezra<br>
>><br>
>> At Sat, 1 Feb 2014 22:33:42 -0800, M Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:<br>
>> ><br>
>> > My initial goal for pdxcensusdata was to provide a 'decoder ring' for<br>
>> > Census data for local journalists. The initial test case was going to<br>
>> > be languages spoken at home, since the transportation planners here<br>
>> > need that for signage and the mobile apps. And I'm personally<br>
>> > interested in the Gini coefficient measures of inequality.<br>
>> ><br>
>> > I'm pretty sure the acs.R package only accesses 2010, 2011 and 2012 as<br>
>> > "end years", with a length parameter of 1, 3 or 5 years.<br>
>> ><br>
>> > On Sat, Feb 1, 2014 at 10:25 PM, <<a href="mailto:arilamstein@gmail.com">arilamstein@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>> > > Ed,<br>
>> > ><br>
>> > > The pdxcensusdata project looks very interesting, but I still have the<br>
>> > > same<br>
>> > > question - which years are accessible with the current version of<br>
>> > > acs.R?<br>
>> > ><br>
>> > > You are (mostly) correct about the limitations of the current version<br>
>> > > of<br>
>> > > choroplethr. But in addition to state and county level data, it also<br>
>> > > renders ZCTA (Zip Code Tabulated Area) level data. Although I had<br>
>> > > trouble<br>
>> > > working with the ZCTA shapefile that the census releases, so I just<br>
>> > > render<br>
>> > > each ZIP as a colored dot, centered at the longitude and latitude of<br>
>> > > the<br>
>> > > ZIP. At that point its no longer a proper choropleth (because it<br>
>> > > lacks a<br>
>> > > border), but I still thought it was worth including in the project.<br>
>> > ><br>
>> > > I spoke with Ramnath briefly as well about using rCharts for rendering<br>
>> > > choropleths, but I haven't had a chance to follow up with him yet.<br>
>> > > Please<br>
>> > > send along any interesting results you get. I think that choropleths<br>
>> > > are<br>
>> > > going to benefit a lot from the recent advances in interactive<br>
>> > > graphics.<br>
>> > ><br>
>> > > Ari<br>
>> > ><br>
>> > ><br>
>> > > On Sat, Feb 1, 2014 at 7:24 PM, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky<br>
>> > > <<a href="mailto:znmeb@znmeb.net">znmeb@znmeb.net</a>><br>
>> > > wrote:<br>
>> > >><br>
>> > >> I have a script that will extract table code names and their<br>
>> > >> definitions into CSV files so one can browse, rather than doing a<br>
>> > >> lookup via acs.r lookup functions. See<br>
>> > >> <a href="https://github.com/znmeb/pdxcensusdata/tree/master/csv" target="_blank">https://github.com/znmeb/pdxcensusdata/tree/master/csv</a>. However, this<br>
>> > >> only covers 2012, 2011 and 2010, not earlier data. I suspect if there<br>
>> > >> are XML files on the Census Bureau site equivalent to the ones in<br>
>> > >> acs.r I could hack up the scripts to use them without much trouble if<br>
>> > >> you have a use for this.<br>
>> > >><br>
>> > >> As far as I can tell, choropleth.R only goes down to the county<br>
>> > >> level,<br>
>> > >> not census tract, block group or block. I'm also talking to Ramnath<br>
>> > >> Vaidyanathan of rCharts (<a href="http://ramnathv.github.io/rCharts/" target="_blank">http://ramnathv.github.io/rCharts/</a>) about<br>
>> > >> making Census choropleth maps using Leaflet.js, which will rended<br>
>> > >> automagically on Github Pages. I'm going to try to hack something up<br>
>> > >> for that this week in the above-linked project.<br>
>> > >><br>
>> > >> On Sat, Feb 1, 2014 at 7:13 PM, <<a href="mailto:arilamstein@gmail.com">arilamstein@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>> > >> > Hi Ezra,<br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> > Thanks for including this update. I'm having a tough time figuring<br>
>> > >> > out<br>
>> > >> > what<br>
>> > >> > data is available via acs.R. From what you've said before, I<br>
>> > >> > gather<br>
>> > >> > that<br>
>> > >> > it's "whatever is available via the Census API". But that is also<br>
>> > >> > not<br>
>> > >> > clear<br>
>> > >> > to me. For example, I found this page on the census website, which<br>
>> > >> > I<br>
>> > >> > think<br>
>> > >> > lists all ACS ever conducted:<br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> > <a href="http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/help/jsf/pages/metadata.xhtml?lang=en&type=survey&id=survey.en.ACS_ACS" target="_blank">http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/help/jsf/pages/metadata.xhtml?lang=en&type=survey&id=survey.en.ACS_ACS</a><br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> > But when I tried to get the 2005 or 2007 ACS I get an error message<br>
>> > >> > and<br>
>> > >> > lots<br>
>> > >> > of warnings. Do you have any documentation of what data your<br>
>> > >> > package<br>
>> > >> > supports retrieving?<br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> > I am interested in making animated gifs where each frame is a<br>
>> > >> > choropleth<br>
>> > >> > of<br>
>> > >> > some demographic measurement at a particular year. Right now<br>
>> > >> > that's<br>
>> > >> > difficult because I'm just going hit or miss thru the list, and it<br>
>> > >> > seems<br>
>> > >> > to<br>
>> > >> > be a lot of misses.<br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> > Also, in version 1.0 of choroplethr I am just using the 2011<br>
>> > >> > (default)<br>
>> > >> > ACS.<br>
>> > >> > In subsequent versions I would like users to use whatever (year,<br>
>> > >> > span)<br>
>> > >> > combinations acs.R supports. I would also like to distribute a<br>
>> > >> > list of<br>
>> > >> > available data with my code, but right now I don't have one.<br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> > Thanks.<br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> > Ari<br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> > On Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 5:30 PM, Ezra Haber Glenn <<a href="mailto:eglenn@mit.edu">eglenn@mit.edu</a>><br>
>> > >> > wrote:<br>
>> > >> >><br>
>> > >> >><br>
>> > >> >> Dear acs.R folks:<br>
>> > >> >><br>
>> > >> >> As some of you have noticed, the new five-year Census ACS data has<br>
>> > >> >> just come out (see <<a href="http://www.census.gov/developers/data/" target="_blank">http://www.census.gov/developers/data/</a>>), and<br>
>> > >> >> is<br>
>> > >> >> now available via the Census API. To make sure you are able to<br>
>> > >> >> fetch<br>
>> > >> >> the freshest possible data to play with in R, I’ve updated the<br>
>> > >> >> acs.R<br>
>> > >> >> package to version 1.2, which now includes full support for the<br>
>> > >> >> 2008–2012 ACS data.<br>
>> > >> >><br>
>> > >> >> The latest version is now available on the CRAN repository -- see<br>
>> > >> >> <<a href="http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/acs/index.html" target="_blank">http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/acs/index.html</a>>. If you’ve<br>
>> > >> >> already installed the package in the past, you can easily update<br>
>> > >> >> with<br>
>> > >> >> the update.packages() command; if you’ve never installed it, you<br>
>> > >> >> can<br>
>> > >> >> just as easily install it for the first time, by simply typing<br>
>> > >> >> install.packages(“acs”). In either case, be sure to load the<br>
>> > >> >> library<br>
>> > >> >> after installing by typing library(acs), and install (or<br>
>> > >> >> re-install)<br>
>> > >> >> an API key with api.key.install() — see the documentation and the<br>
>> > >> >> latest version of the acs user guide for more info.<br>
>> > >> >><br>
>> > >> >> To get the latest data, just continue to use the acs.fetch()<br>
>> > >> >> function<br>
>> > >> >> as usual, but specify endyear=2012. (By default, endyear is set to<br>
>> > >> >> 2011 if no year is explicitly passed to acs.fetch, and I didn’t<br>
>> > >> >> want<br>
>> > >> >> to change this for fear of breaking existing user scripts. In the<br>
>> > >> >> future, we might to rethink this, so that it selects the most<br>
>> > >> >> recent<br>
>> > >> >> endyear by default. Thoughts?)<br>
>> > >> >><br>
>> > >> >> (Note: It might take a day or two for the updates to percolate<br>
>> > >> >> through<br>
>> > >> >> the CRAN system. If you update and you’re not sure which version<br>
>> > >> >> you<br>
>> > >> >> are using, you can always type packageVersion(“acs”) to find out.)<br>
>> > >> >> --<br>
>> > >> >> Ezra Haber Glenn, AICP<br>
>> > >> >> Department of Urban Studies and Planning<br>
>> > >> >> Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
>> > >> >> 77 Massachusetts Ave., Room 7-337<br>
>> > >> >> Cambridge, MA 02139<br>
>> > >> >> <a href="mailto:eglenn@mit.edu">eglenn@mit.edu</a><br>
>> > >> >> <a href="http://dusp.mit.edu/faculty/ezra-glenn" target="_blank">http://dusp.mit.edu/faculty/ezra-glenn</a> |<br>
>> > >> >> <a href="http://eglenn.scripts.mit.edu/citystate/" target="_blank">http://eglenn.scripts.mit.edu/citystate/</a><br>
>> > >> >> <a href="tel:617.253.2024" value="+16172532024">617.253.2024</a> (w)<br>
>> > >> >> <a href="tel:617.721.7131" value="+16177217131">617.721.7131</a> (c)<br>
>> > >> >><br>
>> > >> >> _______________________________________________<br>
>> > >> >> acs-r mailing list<br>
>> > >> >> <a href="mailto:acs-r@mit.edu">acs-r@mit.edu</a><br>
>> > >> >> <a href="http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/acs-r" target="_blank">http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/acs-r</a><br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >> > _______________________________________________<br>
>> > >> > acs-r mailing list<br>
>> > >> > <a href="mailto:acs-r@mit.edu">acs-r@mit.edu</a><br>
>> > >> > <a href="http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/acs-r" target="_blank">http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/acs-r</a><br>
>> > >> ><br>
>> > >><br>
>> > >><br>
>> > >><br>
>> > >> --<br>
>> > >> Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/znmeb" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/znmeb</a>; Computational Journalism on a<br>
>> > >> Stick<br>
>> > >> <a href="http://j.mp/CompJournoStickOverview" target="_blank">http://j.mp/CompJournoStickOverview</a><br>
>> > >><br>
>> > >> My poltergeist can beat up your zeitgeist.<br>
>> > ><br>
>> > ><br>
>> ><br>
>> ><br>
>> ><br>
>> > --<br>
>> > Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/znmeb" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/znmeb</a>; Computational Journalism on a Stick<br>
>> > <a href="http://j.mp/CompJournoStickOverview" target="_blank">http://j.mp/CompJournoStickOverview</a><br>
>> ><br>
>> > My poltergeist can beat up your zeitgeist.<br>
>><br>
>> --<br>
>> Ezra Haber Glenn, AICP<br>
>> Department of Urban Studies and Planning<br>
>> Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
>> 77 Massachusetts Ave., Room 7-337<br>
>> Cambridge, MA 02139<br>
>> <a href="mailto:eglenn@mit.edu">eglenn@mit.edu</a><br>
>> <a href="http://dusp.mit.edu/faculty/ezra-glenn" target="_blank">http://dusp.mit.edu/faculty/ezra-glenn</a> |<br>
>> <a href="http://eglenn.scripts.mit.edu/citystate/" target="_blank">http://eglenn.scripts.mit.edu/citystate/</a><br>
>> <a href="tel:617.253.2024" value="+16172532024">617.253.2024</a> (w)<br>
>> <a href="tel:617.721.7131" value="+16177217131">617.721.7131</a> (c)<br>
><br>
><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
--<br>
Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/znmeb" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/znmeb</a>; Computational Journalism on a Stick<br>
<a href="http://j.mp/CompJournoStickOverview" target="_blank">http://j.mp/CompJournoStickOverview</a><br>
<br>
My poltergeist can beat up your zeitgeist.<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br></div>