{"id":16884498,"url":"https://github.com/timwis/opa-liberator","last_synced_at":"2026-05-09T10:03:33.803Z","repository":{"id":1453214,"uuid":"1686804","full_name":"timwis/OPA-Liberator","owner":"timwis","description":null,"archived":false,"fork":false,"pushed_at":"2011-06-19T21:31:44.000Z","size":212,"stargazers_count":4,"open_issues_count":1,"forks_count":1,"subscribers_count":3,"default_branch":"master","last_synced_at":"2025-01-25T07:11:22.972Z","etag":null,"topics":[],"latest_commit_sha":null,"homepage":"http://phillyaddress.com","language":"JavaScript","has_issues":true,"has_wiki":null,"has_pages":null,"mirror_url":null,"source_name":null,"license":null,"status":null,"scm":"git","pull_requests_enabled":true,"icon_url":"https://github.com/timwis.png","metadata":{"files":{"readme":"README","changelog":null,"contributing":null,"funding":null,"license":null,"code_of_conduct":null,"threat_model":null,"audit":null,"citation":null,"codeowners":null,"security":null,"support":null}},"created_at":"2011-05-01T03:54:46.000Z","updated_at":"2015-09-02T23:54:25.000Z","dependencies_parsed_at":"2022-07-29T13:49:08.041Z","dependency_job_id":null,"html_url":"https://github.com/timwis/OPA-Liberator","commit_stats":null,"previous_names":[],"tags_count":0,"template":false,"template_full_name":null,"repository_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/timwis%2FOPA-Liberator","tags_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/timwis%2FOPA-Liberator/tags","releases_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/timwis%2FOPA-Liberator/releases","manifests_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/timwis%2FOPA-Liberator/manifests","owner_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/owners/timwis","download_url":"https://codeload.github.com/timwis/OPA-Liberator/tar.gz/refs/heads/master","host":{"name":"GitHub","url":"https://github.com","kind":"github","repositories_count":244557488,"owners_count":20471835,"icon_url":"https://github.com/github.png","version":null,"created_at":"2022-05-30T11:31:42.601Z","updated_at":"2022-07-04T15:15:14.044Z","host_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub","repositories_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories","repository_names_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repository_names","owners_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/owners"}},"keywords":[],"created_at":"2024-10-13T16:28:38.007Z","updated_at":"2026-05-09T10:03:28.774Z","avatar_url":"https://github.com/timwis.png","language":"JavaScript","funding_links":[],"categories":[],"sub_categories":[],"readme":"The Philly Property Owner Search was created at \u003ca href=\"http://phillytechweek.com\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePhilly Tech Week's\u003c/a\u003e \u003ci\u003eHackathon\u003c/i\u003e on April 30, 2011.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nThis application aims to fill a gap in the City of Philadelphia's Office of Property Assessment (OPA) web site: the ability to search by owner. Currently, the OPA web site allows you to search by address and view the owner information, tax balances, etc. as it is all public record, but it does not allow you to search by owner.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\u003cb\u003eHow It Works\u003c/b\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\nWe were given a list of properties which we imported into a MySQL database. From there, we created a Ruby script that scrapes the data from the \u003ca href=\"http://opa.phila.gov/opa.apps/Search/SearchForm.aspx?url=search\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eOPA Property Search\u003c/a\u003e site, and puts it into the MySQL database.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nWe then created a public front-end (what you're viewing now) with an owner search box. The data you input is sent to the back-end PHP script, which queries the database for all owners that match the specified string. When you select the owner, it sends another query to get all the properties listed with that string as the owner, and geocodes their location if it hasn't already been cached.. The front-end then puts those properties into the select box and plots them on the map with a link to their OPA info page.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\u003cb\u003eOpen Data\u003c/b\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\nWhile this application does not currently utilize any open data, its creation (and subsequent naming) was intended to 'liberate' this data from the OPA web site. The team is engaging in talks with the OPA in hopes that they release the data in a compiled, downloadable format, in line with other data sets on \u003ca href=\"http://opendataphilly.org\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eOpenDataPhilly\u003c/a\u003e. So far the OPA has been quite receptive. It's up to their IT department now. We'll keep you posted.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nThe source code is available on \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/timwis/OPA-Liberator\" target=\"_blank\"\u003egit hub\u003c/a\u003e. (Will have the most up-to-date version on it later tonight)\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\u003cb\u003eCredits\u003c/b\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"mailto:hinz.adam@gmail.com\"\u003eAdam Hinz\u003c/a\u003e - Ruby Scraper Script, Front-End HTML/CSS, Front-End jQuery\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"mailto:chengjoanne2@gmail.com\"\u003eJoanne Cheng\u003c/a\u003e - Front-End HTML/CSS, Front-End jQuery, Front-End Mapping\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"mailto:tim@timwis.com\"\u003eTim Wisniewski\u003c/a\u003e - Back-End PHP, Minor Tweaks to Front-End\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"mjumbewu@kwawatu.com\"\u003eMjumbe Wawatu Poe\u003c/a\u003e - Overall Assistance \u0026 Inspiration\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGil (Last Name TBD) - PHP Geocoding Function\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://technicallyphilly.com\"\u003eTechnically Philly\u003c/a\u003e - Putting together Philly Tech Week \u0026 The Hackathon\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cb\u003eWant to Help?\u003c/b\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\nAre you a programmer or designer interested in open data and civic engagement? Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:tim@timwis.com\"\u003eTim Wisniewski\u003c/a\u003e to be notified of future projects like this.\n\n","project_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/projects/github.com%2Ftimwis%2Fopa-liberator","html_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/projects/github.com%2Ftimwis%2Fopa-liberator","lists_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/projects/github.com%2Ftimwis%2Fopa-liberator/lists"}