Chicago Environmental and Public Health Permits with Geospatial Attributes

Over 19 years of permit records document environmental and public health authorizations issued in Chicago from 1993 onward. The dataset includes permits issued by the Department of Environment (1993-2011) and subsequently by the Chicago Department of Public Health (2012-present). It also contains tank permits issued on behalf of the Illinois State Fire Marshall.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal trends in APPLICATION TYPE and APPLICATION SUBTYPE using ISSUE DATE across a 19-year period.
• Map permit density and types by geographic boundaries using LATITUDE, LONGITUDE, Zip Codes, and Community Areas.
• Predict permit STATUS (e.g., active, expired) based on features like ISSUE DATE, EXPIRATION DATE, and APPLICATION TYPE.
• Identify frequent APPLICANTS or APPLICATION NAMES associated with specific STREET NAMES or Wards for compliance profiling.
• Correlate permit activity with demographic data by joining on Census Tracts or Boundaries - ZIP Codes.

Strengths

• 19-year temporal coverage from January 1993, providing longitudinal data.
• Includes 24 columns with detailed application, location, and administrative attributes.
• Contains geospatial fields: LATITUDE, LONGITUDE, Zip Codes, Wards, and Community Areas.

Limitations

• Unknown total row count and sample size for statistical reliability.
• Data is stale, with the described record period ending in 2011 for DOE permits and no indication of recent CDPH updates.
• Potential for missing values in temporal fields like EXPIRATION DATE or COMMENT.

Provenance

Source

data.cityofchicago.org, aggregating records from the Chicago Department of Public Health and the former Department of Environment.

Collection Method

Administrative records from city permitting and inspection authorities.

Time Range

January 1993 to present (with described records up to at least 2012).

Freshness

Dataset metadata indicates a last update of 2026-04-03, but the described permit records end in 2011 with CDPH records from 2012 onward; actual data recency is unclear.

Geography

City of Chicago, Illinois, USA.