91ÊÓƵ

is a wonderful tool. While it is nice for citizens, it can be especially useful for developers and real estate professionals. By typing in an address, neighborhood or business district, anyone can find information on elevations, property lines, tax maps, urban growth boundaries and utility paths.

While the current version of PortlandMaps is a great resource, the city, Metro and the state have all made available some more interesting data sets that could really help developers.

The three government bodies, as well as TriMet and Portland Public Schools, have teamed up to release several data sets to computer program developers and the public. The project, known as , is meant to better educate the public and create more government transparency through technology.

Some data sets I found that could be very beneficial to developers are listed below. If you register on the website you can access the data sets.

1. – This could be useful to developers looking to target an area for development. Housing values tend to rise when the nearby commercial spaces go up in value.
2. – Interested in a project? Interested in a specific site? This data set could help you in your search.
3. – This is standard information but is an easy way to figure out exactly how a piece of property is zoned.
4. – Here is a list of past and current capital improvement projects being done by the city.
5. – While urban renewal areas usually get most of the hype around public/private projects, local improvement districts can also help provide private developers with public capital.
6. – If you are a developer and looking for a public investment in your private project, this data set could help you out.
7. – While you can find this map on PDC’s website, if combined with another data set it could be very useful.

So, if you’re a tech savvy developer, or just want some raw data to sift through, these lists could be very beneficial to your business.