topic Re: Addressing Standards - getting started in 911 GIS Questions

Addressing Standards - getting started

ChrisDonohue__GISP — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 21:52:48 GMT

The City I work for (Roseville, California) is in the process of moving around the ownership of several data layers, so I've been asked to get involved with GIS addressing tasks. I have not done addressing before, so wanted to throw out a beginner question - are there standards commonly used for GIS addressing data? I've been told our data has to meet the needs of not just the folks tracking land development and assets, but also the 911 response community (it will eventually feed into a New World CAD system that is in the works).

I've heard in the past that the National Emergency Numbers Association (NENA) provides one of the major addressing standards:

National Emergency Number Association

Is this the predominant standard? Are there others? How does one start getting educated in the GIS side of the addressing standards world?

(I suspect this is the realmJoe Borgione lives in).

Chris Donohue, GISP

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

JoeBorgione — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 15:31:45 GMT

Chris- Can't remember where or from who I picked this up, but "The thing about standards is there are so many to choose from"....

Although I probably should, I don't keep tabs on NENA, so I'm not sure if they've finally nailed down a standard or not. They've had one in the works for quite some time for the up coming deployment of of the so-called 'Next-Gen 9-1-1'.

Most of my work is done in Salt Lake County, Utah, USA and they have what I consider a rigorous addressing ordinance. I work in a few other areas, and none of them seem to take addressing seriously; I'm strictly 9-1-1 so for me there is this underlying sense of urgency to have good addressing for dispatch.

Search around a bit in the ESRi pages; they have done considerable work for addressing models. You might also take a look at the Utah Automated Geographic Resource Center they may use the ESRI data model. (You'd think I would know as they are a former employer of mine)

I don't don't know that you can create data that fits the needs precisely of every single end-user. So my advice (and remember with free advice you get what you pay for) is to follow the money; who ever funds the endeavor the most, gets to set the standards for their needs....

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

ChrisDonohue__GISP — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 16:07:09 GMT

Thanks for the insight Joe. My first thought as other groups within the City discussed what they use the address data for was "are we all talking about the same data set?", as there are a wide variety of uses and expectations, and there is no immediate way to meet all of them.

Chris Donohue, GISP

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

StevenGraf1 — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 16:13:55 GMT

Hey Chris,

Here are all the NENA documents about the 911 standards for addressing (as well as all the other layers for NG911).

Technical Standards &amp Docs - National Emergency Number Association

The GIS Data model has been in draft form for a long time and has been released for public comment.

Kansas has adopted a version of the NG911 standard which you can find here:

Kansas Data Access and Support Center - Next Generation 911 (NG9-1-1)

As for other areas, I am not quite sure what addressing entails.

-Steven

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

StevenGraf1 — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 16:20:44 GMT

The link keeps redirecting to this post for some reason...

https://www.nena.org/?page=TechnicalStandards&hhSearchTerms=%22gis%22&#rescol_327808

Maybe this will work..

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

JoeBorgione — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 16:52:31 GMT

Just took a look at the Kansas model document Steven provided; A lot of it looks very similar to what I use. The way I see it, the basic structure needs prefix, street name, suffix, type, and range info along with some way to uniquely identify each segment. ( I avoid using OIDs or even GUIDs as unique identifiers; they can mess things up.) Maybe city codes side to side, and maybe zip codes. Anything after that is icing on the cake. As mentioned, I use the data for 9-1-1 dispatch, but I have several different city GIS people maintain the data in a central SDE database that I manage.

Something I really like to take advantage of is database replication. Consider this scenario: while 9-1-1 needs accurate address ranges I'm not really keen on what type pavement or when the last time a particular street was striped. The road guys probably can live some address issues, but pavement and paint is really important to them.

In steps database replication.

I can manage the elemental data that pretty much everyone can use, stated above along with geometry. The roads guys can replicate that data to a feature class that contains what ever additional fields that are important to them. Everybody wins. Minimizing efforts for data maintenance goes a long ways, and at the same time specific needs can be met with a little ingenuity.

The same goes for the traffic guys, the utility guys etc etc etc.

If replication isn't a viable solution, perhaps related tables through the unique identifier could be used...

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

RickIngle — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 16:39:44 GMT

Chris,

In addition to NENA, you should look at the relatively new federal address standard at this link: United States Thoroughfare, Landmark, and Postal Address Data Standard — Federal Geographic Data Committee scroll down to where it says Final draft under Project History. This standard will probably be (if it already hasn't been) adopted by most federal agencies for the transfer of address information. Many state and local governments are also looking at it very closely to determine if it affects how they should structure their data. It is a detailed document - not necessarily light reading, but very understandable.

- Rick I.

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

JoeBorgione — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 16:44:23 GMT

As I mentioned; so many 'standards' from which to choose!

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

ChrisDonohue__GISP — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 18:08:51 GMT

Should I stir the pot and ask which one is "best"?

Chris Donohue, GISP

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

StevenGraf1 — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 18:12:12 GMT

The best one is the one that fits your region best. Sooner or later everyone will have to conform to some standard. Kansas' model is developed from the NG911 model but has been modified to fit the needs of the counties and cities in Kansas.

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

JoeBorgione — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 18:42:32 GMT

Steven et al; I now have this picture in my head of a black Suburban pulling up and the Address Standards Police piling out....

When I worked for State Government the standing joke was if you want a project to die, form a committee. It wouldn't be so funny if it weren't so true. I can't tell you how many standards committees I've been on; almost as many invitations to them that I've turned down.

What I see as a suitable standard is as I mentioned; a basic template that covers the most basic information. The field names don't really need to be the same: it really doesn't matter if you call it the LF_ADDR or the Left_From_Addresses, or what ever, just so you have something in place that can be translated or mapped to another database.

Attached is a spreadsheet for a streets feature class attributes table. The first worksheet (Streets09) is the original schema I used to manage and it has some very specific fields in it for specific uses. Remember when I suggested to follow the money? VECC is who I work for and they were the ones who ponied up a server and SDE, along with me to manage it for all the cities that VECC dispatches for. So I got to set the 'standard'. Each one of the fields is color coded as to what agency it is specific to, or if it's universal.

Take a look at Streets2013; much lighter weight with only two VECC specific fields, because VECC still controls the vertical and horizontal. But you get the point; trim it down to the basics that even the stodgiest of committee members can agree upon. Personally, I'm not too worried about the black Suburban...

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

ChrisDonohue__GISP — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 18:51:30 GMT

Black Suburban now detailed, engaging addressing data for correct routing....

Chris Donohue, GISP

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

MattTenold1 — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 18:54:00 GMT

Regarding addressing and using it for Dispatch and Emergency services, accuracy is the most important part of GIS address and street centerline files.

From there you can flag errors and look for ways to resolve addressing errors such as address numbers on the wrong side of the street, suite numbers out of order, or streets with two different names one for each side of the street. There are going to be errors in your address and street data and some may not be able to be resolved until the occupant moves out. It is just a part of addressing. People will complain if you try and fix their address. Sometimes with proof that the address is a public safety hazard you can push through the address change but be prepared for some pushback.

If you follow the NENA guidelines as much as possible you cannot go wrong. However you do need to modify your data to a degree to work with your dispatch system.

It is also a necessary step to have all of your addresses in your GIS data field verified. I know its a pain but its worth it. The sooner you complete this the better you will be. ESRI has a great address verification map to use and I would suggest looking into address fishbones to catch address errors.

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

IanMurray — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 19:18:23 GMT

I wonder if Richard Fairhurst has any comments on this, I know he does alot of addressing.

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

RickIngle — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 19:27:01 GMT

Matt,

You wouldn't happen to have a URL for ESRI's address verification map would you?

I did a search, but didn't come up with anything.

Thanks.

Rick I.

Re: Addressing Standards - getting started

MattTenold1 — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 19:59:28 GMT

Sure do. This is the place to start. Address Data Management | ArcGIS for Local Government What version of ArcMap do you have? I can help with anything address related. I have set up multiple addressing datasets for quite few different agencies.