Re: usps.gov

[Carl Malamud <xxxx@media.org>]

i ordered your stuff ... will let you know what happens.

On Jul 2, 2008, at 1:28 PM, Aaron Swartz wrote:

> > on page 103 of the pdf file below, I am somewhat unclear as to  
> > which zip+4
> > and five-digit-zip I should be ordering?
>
> It appears you want ZP215R and FD215R which is all the data as of this
> month on CD-ROM.
>
> > The order form includes a copyright agreement ... I will leave that  
> > field
> > blank, give them my credit card number, and see if they ship.  If  
> > they
> > charge me, you can do the paypal then.
>
> Sounds good. I've also poked Robert to see what his status is.
>
> > On Jul 2, 2008, at 12:14 PM, Aaron Swartz wrote:
> >
> > > So one of the things we want to do on Watchdog is let people enter
> > > their zip code and find out information about their neighborhood.  
> > > But,
> > > outrageously, the USPS's database about which zip codes are where
> > > isn't available publicly. It's another one of these absurd  
> > > government
> > > mail-away-for-the-DVD things. (Did they all get some memo on this or
> > > something?) Anyway, it looks like a couple thousand dollars for the
> > > important databases. You interested? I can PayPal the money if
> > > necessary.
> > >
> > > http://www.usps.com/ncsc/
> > > http://www.usps.com/ncsc/addressinfo/addressinfomenu.htm
> > > Manual on ordering: http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/Addressing/PUBS/AIS.pdf
> > >
> > > The important things seem to be:
> > >
> > > - Five-Digit ZIP ($500; lists the streets for each zip code)
> > > - ZIP+4 ($900; lists the addresses for each ZIP+4 code)
> > > - City State (free with the above; maps to city and state names)
> > > - TIGER/ZIP+4 ($700; lets you map the zip codes with Census data)
> > >
> > > Delivery Statistics ($350; lists the number of deliveries to each  
> > > zip
> > > code) also looks kind of interesting.