WPRDC – Pittsburgh Regional Data Center

Query 363+ datasets from the Western PA Regional Data Center. Property assessments, air quality, 311 requests, jail census, overdose data, parking, permits, violations — all queryable via SQL without downloading.

Quick Start

# Search for datasets
<skill>/wprdc.py search "property sales"
<skill>/wprdc.py search "air quality" --org allegheny-county

# Get dataset info
<skill>/wprdc.py info property-assessments

# List resources (tables) in a dataset
<skill>/wprdc.py resources property-assessments

# See field schema
<skill>/wprdc.py fields assessments

# SQL query (the killer feature!)
<skill>/wprdc.py query 'SELECT "PARID", "PROPERTYADDRESS" FROM @assessments WHERE "PROPERTYCITY"='"'"'PITTSBURGH'"'"' LIMIT 5'

# Quick parcel lookup
<skill>/wprdc.py parcel 0028F00194000000

# Download a dataset
<skill>/wprdc.py download property-assessments --format csv

Commands

search <query>

Search for datasets by keyword.

Options:

• --org <name> — Filter by organization (e.g., allegheny-county, city-of-pittsburgh)
• --group <name> — Filter by topic group (e.g., health, housing-properties)
• --limit <n> — Max results (default: 10)
• --json — Raw JSON output

info <dataset>

Get detailed information about a dataset, including description, resources, and metadata.

resources <dataset>

List all resources (tables/files) in a dataset with their IDs and queryability status.

fields <resource>

Show the field schema for a resource. Use shortcut names or resource IDs.

query <sql>

Execute SQL queries against live data. This is the power feature!

Important: Column names must be double-quoted because PostgreSQL is case-sensitive:

SELECT "PARID", "PROPERTYADDRESS" FROM @assessments WHERE "PROPERTYCITY"='PITTSBURGH' LIMIT 5

Use @shortcut notation for common tables (see Shortcuts below).

Options:

• --json — Raw JSON output
• --table — Format as ASCII table

parcel <pin>

Quick property lookup by parcel ID. Returns address, assessments, building info, and last sale.

<skill>/wprdc.py parcel 0028F00194000000

download <dataset>

Download a resource to a file.

Options:

• --resource <id|name> — Specific resource
• --format <csv|json|geojson> — Preferred format
• --output <path> — Output filename

orgs

List all organizations publishing data.

groups

List all topic groups (categories).

shortcuts

Show available query shortcuts.

Query Shortcuts

Use @shortcut in SQL queries instead of long resource IDs:

Example:

<skill>/wprdc.py query 'SELECT * FROM @overdoses WHERE "death_year"=2024 LIMIT 10'

SQL Query Tips

1. Quote UPPERCASE column names — PostgreSQL is case-sensitive:

   SELECT "PROPERTYADDRESS" FROM @assessments  -- ✓ uppercase needs quotes
   SELECT case_year FROM @overdoses            -- ✓ lowercase works without quotes
   

2. Use LIMIT — Large tables can timeout without limits

3. Check fields first — Use fields <resource> to see available columns

4. Aggregate queries work:

   SELECT "PROPERTYCITY", COUNT(*) as cnt 
   FROM @assessments 
   GROUP BY "PROPERTYCITY" 
   ORDER BY cnt DESC 
   LIMIT 10
   

Organizations

Major data publishers:

• allegheny-county — 143 datasets (assessments, health, jail, elections)
• city-of-pittsburgh — 126 datasets (311, permits, violations, budget)
• pittsburgh-regional-transit — 9 datasets (bus routes, ridership)
• ppa — 5 datasets (parking transactions)
• pwsa — 4 datasets (water/sewer)

Topic Groups

• housing-properties — Property data, assessments, sales
• health — Overdoses, air quality, COVID, health indicators
• public-safety-justice — 911 calls, jail census, police data
• transportation — Transit, parking, bike infrastructure
• environment — Air quality, land use, green spaces
• civic-vitality-governance — 311, budgets, elections

Example Queries

“What’s the assessed value of this property?”

<skill>/wprdc.py parcel 0001A00001000000

“Show recent 311 requests about potholes”

<skill>/wprdc.py query 'SELECT "CREATED_ON", "REQUEST_TYPE", "ADDRESS" FROM @311 WHERE "REQUEST_TYPE" LIKE '"'"'%Pothole%'"'"' ORDER BY "CREATED_ON" DESC LIMIT 10'

“How many overdose deaths per year?”

<skill>/wprdc.py query 'SELECT case_year, COUNT(*) as deaths FROM @overdoses GROUP BY case_year ORDER BY case_year'

“Find datasets about transit”

<skill>/wprdc.py search "transit" --org pittsburgh-regional-transit

“Download air quality data”

<skill>/wprdc.py download allegheny-county-air-quality --format csv

Data Source

All data from Western PA Regional Data Center, powered by CKAN.

Data is maintained by various regional organizations including Allegheny County, City of Pittsburgh, PWSA, PRT, and community groups. Update frequencies vary by dataset — check info <dataset> for details.

Combining with Other Skills

This skill pairs well with:

• fishfry — Fish fry data is also on WPRDC
• plow-tracker — Cross-reference with 311 snow complaints
• goplaces — Geocode addresses for location-based queries