Random Samplings Blog: Simple Tools, Great Solutions: Creating Boundaries for Puerto Rico Urbanizaciones

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WASHINGTON, May 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Puerto Rico addresses contain types of areas typically not seen in stateside addresses. One example is an urbanización, which is a named neighborhood similar to a stateside subdivision. To help maintain Puerto Rico addresses within the U.S. Census Bureau's address database and to improve address update processes, the Geography Division is developing geographic information systems-based processes that use existing address structure points to draw boundaries for these areas. Our first priority is the urbanizaciones.

Getting these boundaries right is essential to achieving a complete and accurate count of all Puerto Ricans in the 2020 census and for an accurate Puerto Rico Community Survey every year.

Why do urbanizaciones matter?
In different urbanizaciones, house numbers and street names may repeat within a single ZIP code, resulting in identical addresses. In such cases the urbanización name is required to make the addresses unique.  Drawing spatial boundaries for an urbanización and creating relationships between the urbanización and census blocks makes geocoding addresses in urbanizaciones more feasible; however, currently the Census Bureau has no spatial boundaries for urbanizaciones.

Why create boundaries?

• To provide a mechanism to use address ranges for geocoding Puerto Rico addresses that fall outside the stateside convention of having only not repeating a house number and street name within a given ZIP code. This is critical for the address database update of Puerto Rico addresses.
• To identify nonstandard urbanización names, such as misspellings and alternate formats, currently in the address database and their standard forms. The standard forms will be used to update the address database and improve overall data quality.
• To facilitate the generation of a list of urbanización names on the Census Bureau's Listing and Mapping Application (LiMA) used to capture address information in the field. The intent is to provide LiMA users with a list of choices for urbanización names based on their assigned census block to increase efficiency and reduce input errors. It will also provide additional reference data for the Census Bureau's in-office address canvassing operation. 

How we do it?
The Geography Division standardizes address data, creates boundaries using structure points (latitude/longitude coordinates) currently associated with the address database and aligns polygon boundaries with authoritative and reliable third party sources.

Because the urbanizaciones names are one of the components that make addresses unique in Puerto Rico, the geocoding based on the urbanizaciones boundaries will ensure an updated and accurate address frame for use in surveys such as the 2020 Census and the Puerto Rico Community Survey.

Media Contact: Public Information Office, [email protected], 301-763-3030

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

Related Links

http://www.census.gov