Connecting Address and Property Data To Evaluate Housing-Related Policy

Housing conditions can vary greatly from one property to the next, but housing characteristics often are measured at different geographic units because of data limitations. This article discusses the process of connecting address-level datasets to create meaningful analyses at the property level in the absence of a comprehensive address-to-parcel crosswalk. To demonstrate this process, the authors describe linking child lead screening, lead property compliance, foreclosure, and tax assessors’ property records for a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-funded Lead Technical Study in four Rhode Island core cities. Using the linked data analysis, robust property-level findings can lead to an effective evaluation of policies that affect properties, particularly for urban communities with high proportions of multifamily housing.