In this episode, we're joined by Alex Alsup, Vice President of Research & Development at Regrid. We talk about the Detroit foreclosure crisis, Regrid’s work in collecting land parcel data, as well as transparency and accessibility in assessment.

We cover:

• Introduction to Assessment Matters podcast 00:00

• Alex’s bio and big ideas 00:35

• • Alex’s experience in parcel mapping, data collection, and tackling the Detroit property tax foreclosure crisis

  • How does land use and land taxation make housing so unaffordable in the US?

• What caused the Detroit property tax foreclosure crisis? 5:13

• • Lack of consistent reassessment

  • Difficult to navigate bureaucratic poverty relief programs

  • Differences in homeowner vs renter experiences

  • Perverse incentives featuring speculative and delinquent landlords

• What does the process look like to collect parcel data? 8:44

• • Maximizing freshness, coverage, and depth of parcel data

  • Incremental progress over a decade with regular updates

  • Data sources

• What Regrid did differently from past parcel data collection 12:01

• • Specific focus on parcel boundaries and shapes

  • Broadening access to historically obscure and idiosyncratic knowledge

• Current R&D projects and interests: the Detroit Assessment Gauge 13:31

• • comparing assessed values to US Census tract

  • Helping improve transparency and public trust

  • Providing the public with the technical language for assessments

• How to see more of Regrid 17:42

• • Regrid's website

  • Promoting data access via Data With Purpose: