ianpcook/wprdc
Overview
This skill lets you query Pittsburgh's Western PA Regional Data Center (WPRDC) directly with SQL and perform quick parcel lookups across 363+ datasets. It provides live access to property assessments, sales, 311 requests, permits, violations, overdoses, jail census, air quality, and more without downloading data. Use shortcuts for common tables and run targeted SQL against live tables with pagination and schema inspection.
How this skill works
You search datasets, inspect dataset metadata and field schemas, then run SQL queries against live resources using a safe proxy. Shortcuts (e.g., @assessments, @311, @overdoses) map to common tables so queries are concise. The service enforces limits and blocks certain SQL functions, so add LIMIT and avoid server-side aggregates or casts; aggregate client-side instead.
When to use it
- Looking up a property by parcel ID or address in Allegheny County
- Exploring city-level permits, violations, or 311 requests for Pittsburgh neighborhoods
- Analyzing county-wide trends like overdoses, jail census, or property sales
- Checking dataset freshness and schema before building reports or exports
- Running targeted SQL queries against live civic data without downloading full datasets
Best practices
- Always run info <dataset> to check last update and resource health before querying
- Use fields <resource> to inspect column names; double-quote UPPERCASE columns exactly
- Always include LIMIT and narrow WHERE clauses on large tables to avoid timeouts
- Do not use CAST(), ROUND(), AVG(), or other blocked SQL functions—perform aggregation client-side
- Prefer shortcut names (e.g., @assessments) for readable SQL and quicker queries
Example use cases
- Parcel lookup: retrieve assessments, building info, and last sale by parcel ID
- Neighborhood safety: count PLI violations by neighborhood in City of Pittsburgh using @violations
- Overdose trends: query yearly overdose counts from @overdoses for county-wide analysis
- Air quality sampling: pull recent monitor readings from @air-quality for environmental reports
- Permit analysis: filter PLI permits by type and date range for construction activity summaries
FAQ
Some datasets are county-wide (assessments, sales, overdoses, jail) while PLI permits, violations, and 311 are City of Pittsburgh only. Check coverage before assuming inclusion of suburbs.
Why did my query return a function error?
WPRDC blocks functions like CAST(), ROUND(), and AVG(). Remove those functions and compute aggregates or transforms on the client after fetching results.
