Like Ms. Bousefield in Chicago, I find the HUD vacancy figures running
very low. The ACS county-level vacancy data appear far more accurate in
our area, but they are not available at the tract level yet. However,
the HUD data do appear to reflect different characteristics of tracts -
they correctly identify areas of generally higher vacancy. Therefore, I
may be able to use the HUD figures to identify changes in vacancy by
tract over time.
The HUD figures do not separate businesses from residences. Therefore,
like so many other sources, they are useful but not fully compatible
with other data sets.
Jonathan Lupton
Metroplan - Little Rock AR
