The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is a regional planning agency providing analytical, planning, and mapping services to municipalities and community-based organizations in metropolitan Boston. MAPC staff plan for the region's economic development, land use, transportation systems, environmental resources, shared municipal resources and services, and municipal collaboration.

The Boston Indicator Project's award-winning website, coordinated by the Boston Foundation, Greater Boston's community foundation, in partnership with the City of Boston and MAPC, offers interactive overviews and indicators of change and progress in ten sectors for Boston, its neighborhoods and the region. It also posts of new research, links to other data-rich websites by sector in Links and Resources and to comprehensive sites through a through a Data Portal. See also Understanding Boston for Boston Foundation-sponsored research on key issues facing the city and region.

The Urban Information Systems group at Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT)'s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, in partnership with MAPC and funded by the Brookings Institution's Urban Markets Initiative, is developing a new open source data tool with the potential to allow municipal agencies and neighborhood groups to react to real-time changes in their communities' data.

Massachusetts' Office of Geographic and Environmental Information (MassGIS) is located in Massachusetts' Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. It provides a comprehensive database of statewide and regional spatial information. The MassGIS website provides comprehensive data for download and a web-based mapping application, OLIVER (which requires the installation of Java).

This list includes a some data websites that may be of interest to DataCommon visitors. The list does not imply endorsement, and we are always interested in suggestions for links to include.

Boston and Massachusetts Data Sources

Boston.com Massachusetts Facts is the Boston Globe's directory of public records, databases, mapping, and other useful information.

ArtsLink's Art Space Finder allows visitors to search for or advertise available artist studios, work spaces, galleries, or rehearsal space in Massachusetts.

EveryBlock Boston is an innovative website that combines government information including as building permits, business licenses, restaurant inspections, with other sources such as blog posts, photos, and real estate listings.

National Data Sources

The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Data.gov includes searchable data catalogs providing access to data in three ways: through the "raw" data catalog, the tool catalog and the geodata catalog.

New York Federal Reserve Bank Credit Conditions Map maps credit card and mortgage lending delinquency nationwide.

PolicyMap is a mapping and data website presenting a variety of demographic, housing, education and economic information.

Visualization Tools for Your Data

GeoCommons delivers visual analytics through maps. Users can search for and share data through the "Finder" catalog application and map uploaded data in the "Maker".

Many Eyes is a project by IBM that allows users to create advanced visualizations from uploaded data.

Swivel allows users to upload their own data, and create a variety of charts and graphs from the table, share it with other users, and discuss their results.

Raw Data Sources

Most of the data available through the DataMap tool are available in unprocessed formats from the original data sources. Links to the data sources can be found in the "Available Data" pages and also in the DataMap tool by clicking on the layer name.