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VacancyFee.org Hackathon

"Visualize the Vacancy" — 3-Hour Community Hack

Duration: 3 Hours Organization: vacancyfee.org Data: Sacramento County Parcel & Tax Roll Data

Why We're Here

Sacramento has 28,670 vacant or underused parcels worth a combined $5.1 billion in assessed land value. The city charges a flat $70/year vacancy fee — the same whether a lot is worth $50,000 or $5,000,000. A graduated fee structure could generate more.

Today we build the visuals, data, and tools to make that case.

Schedule

Time Activity
0:00–0:20 Welcome, Mission Brief & Data Walkthrough
0:20–0:35 Pick Your Project & Get Set Up
0:35–2:20 Work Session (check-in at 1:15)
2:20–2:45 Show & Tell (3–5 min each, screen-share to TV)
2:45–3:00 Wrap-up & Next Steps

Projects

Pick one. Work solo or pair up. Mentors are circulating.

1. Vacancy Story Map — Beginner

Tools: Google Slides or Canva + Google Street View

Build a 5–10 slide visual narrative of specific vacant parcels. Look up high-value lots from the data, grab Street View images (or walk/bike to nearby ones), and show what these spaces could become.

Start here: Open vacant_parcels.csv in Google Sheets. Sort by VAL_ASSD_LAND descending. Filter SITE_CITY to your area. Look up addresses in Street View.

2. Social Media Campaign Kit — Beginner

Tools: Canva, Figma (free), or Adobe Express

Design 3–5 shareable infographics for Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook, and NextDoor using vacancy stats.

Ready-made stats:

  • "28,670 vacant lots worth $5.1 billion — each pays just $70/year"
  • "Oakland charges up to $6,000. Sacramento charges $70."
  • "668 vacant parcels are each worth over $1 million"

Start here: Open vacant_parcels.csv in Google Sheets. Use filters and COUNTIF/SUMIF to pull stats by city or ZIP code.

3. Fee Revenue Calculator — Intermediate

Tools: Google Sheets or Excel

Build an interactive spreadsheet modeling city revenue under graduated fee tiers. Include input cells for thresholds, comparison charts (current vs. proposed), and compliance scenarios (what if 50% of owners develop instead of pay?).

Fee structure to model:

Vacancy Duration Rate per Sq Ft per Month
0 to 3 months $0.00 (grace period)
4 to 6 months $0.50
7 to 9 months $0.75
10 to 12 months $1.00
13 to 24 months $2.00
25 to 36 months $3.00
37 to 48 months $4.00
49+ months +$1.00 per sqft for each additional 12-month period

Start here: Open vacant_parcels.csv in Google Sheets. Key columns: VAL_ASSD_LAND, SITE_CITY, SITE_ZIP.

4. Vacancy Heat Map — Intermediate

Tools: Google My Maps, Google Earth Pro, or QGIS

Map where vacancy is concentrated. Color-code by value or vacancy tier. Overlay council districts or neighborhoods.

Start here (pick one):

  • Google My Maps: Import vacant_parcels.csv (2,000 row limit — filter to one ZIP first). Use LATITUDE/LONGITUDE for positioning.
  • Google Earth Pro: Open vacant_parcels.kml directly.
  • QGIS: Load parcels_simplified.gpkg, filter is_vacant_coded = 1, style by VAL_ASSD_LAND. See SETUP_GUIDE.md for install steps.

5. Interactive Dashboard — Advanced

Tools: Python + Jupyter

Build a data exploration notebook with interactive maps, filters, charts, and fee projections. Use AI tools freely.

Start here: Open starter_notebook.ipynb — it pre-loads the data with maps, fee calculations, and ownership analysis ready to extend.

Data Files

All files are in the shared Google Drive folder.

File Use For
vacant_parcels.csv (9 MB) Projects 1–4. 28,670 vacant parcels with address, value, owner, zoning, lat/lon. Opens in Google Sheets.
vacant_parcels.kml (24 MB) Project 4. Same parcels for Google Earth Pro.
parcels_simplified.gpkg (293 MB) Project 4 (QGIS). All 482K parcels with simplified geometry.
starter_notebook.ipynb Project 5. Jupyter notebook with starter code.
parcels_trimmed.csv (166 MB) Advanced. All 486K parcels (not just vacant), 40 columns.
vacant_parcels.geojson (29 MB) Advanced. Vacant parcels with geometry for web maps.

Supplemental data (311 calls, OSM buildings/roads, tax rolls, transfer history) is in the data/ folder for anyone who wants to dig deeper.

How We Defined "Vacant"

Tier Rule Count
Tier 1 Land use code starts with "I" (county code for Vacant) 19,364
Tier 2 $0 improvement value, excluding parks/roads/utilities/government 9,151
Tier 3 Parking lots and abandoned service stations 155

Tool Setup

See SETUP_GUIDE.md for installation instructions for QGIS, Google Earth Pro, Google My Maps, and Python/Jupyter.

Presenting

At 2:20, screen-share or display on the TV. 5-10 minutes each:

  • What you made
  • One finding from the data
  • How it helps the advocacy effort

Save your work to the shared Google Drive folder.

Links