One more point of good news/bad news to add: the Census did do its best to collect GPS coords for most structures during the 2010 Census, but will not be sharing that anytime soon: https://www.census.gov/privacy/data_protection/gps_coordinates.html
On Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 3:05 PM, Steven Johnson <sejohns...@gmail.com>wrote: > On Sun, Jun 23, 2013 at 1:12 PM, Bryce Nesbitt <bry...@obviously.com>wrote: > >> >> At SOTM-US (State of the Map US) I spoke to Steven Johnson of the Census >> Bureau on the issue of what data USPS actually has internally (as the >> Census Bureau has some special licensed access to this data). >> >> Yes, just to amplify: the Census Bureau purchases the Delivery Sequence > File (DSF) from USPS on an ongoing basis (at least 2x/year). The use of the > DSF dates from 1994 and Congressional authorization was required for the > Bureau to use the DSF. The DSF served as the foundation for the Bureau's > Master Address File (MAF). The DSF is by far the largest source of address > data for the Bureau, in excess of 90%. > > Apparently, the USPS does not even know the geocoordinates of most of >> their assets (e.g. post boxes, post offices, delivery addresses). They do >> have a near perfect database of *what* these assets are, just not >> the coordinates. And that itself is useful. Knowing a postbox exists is a >> huge clue to geocoding it. Knowing a postbox has been removed from service >> is a huge clue. >> > > Actually, I think I was referring to ZIP codes (but you're forgiven for > not recalling the details. ;-) ). The USPS *does not* maintain ZIP codes as > polygon features, because the ZIP code is associated with a delivery > *point* (i.e. a postal address). The Census Bureau combines those into > something known as "ZIP Code Tabulation Areas", which are an approximation > created by drawing boundaries around a collection of *points* that have ZIP > code in common. Many other commercial vendors create something similar. But > there is no official database of ZIP code polygons. > > As to whether USPS has coordinates/geocoded coords for all of the postal > 'furniture' out there, that I don't know. > > -- SEJ > -- twitter: @geomantic > -- skype: sejohnson8 > > There are two types of people in the world. Those that can extrapolate > from incomplete data. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Talk-us mailing list > Talk-us@openstreetmap.org > http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us > >
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