laOpenData

laOpenData provides simple, reproducible access to Los Angeles-related datasets from the
Los Angeles Open Data Portal platform — directly from R, with no API keys or manual downloads required. Working directly with Socrata APIs can be cumbersome — laOpenData simplifies this process into a clean, reproducible workflow.

Version 0.1.1 introduces a streamlined, catalog-driven interface for Los Angeles Open Data, extending the open data ecosystem beyond New York to support cross-city analysis and comparative civic research.

The package provides three core functions:

• la_list_datasets() — Browse available datasets from the live Los Angeles Open Data catalog
• la_pull_dataset() — Pull any cataloged dataset by key, with filtering, ordering, and optional date controls
• la_any_dataset() — Pull any Los Angeles Open Data dataset directly via its Socrata JSON endpoint

Datasets pulled via la_pull_dataset() automatically apply sensible defaults from the catalog (such as default ordering and date fields), while still allowing user control over:

• limit
• filters
• date / from / to
• where
• order
• clean_names
• coerce_types

This redesign reduces maintenance burden, improves extensibility, and provides a more scalable interface for working with Los Angeles Open Data.

All functions return clean tibble outputs and support filtering via
filters = list(field = "value").

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Installation

Development version (GitHub)

# devtools::install_github("nyc-open-data-lab/laOpenData")
install.packages("laOpenData", repos = c('https://nyc-open-data-lab.r-universe.dev', 'https://cloud.r-project.org'))

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Example

library(laOpenData)

la_vacent_buildings <- la_pull_dataset(
  dataset = "building_safety",
  limit = 1000
)

head(la_vacent_buildings)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 10
#>     case area_planning_commiss…¹ case_type year_case_created date_case_created  
#>    <dbl> <chr>                   <chr>                 <dbl> <dttm>             
#> 1 800237 Harbor                  GENERAL                2018 2018-01-02 00:00:00
#> 2 800342 West Los Angeles        GENERAL                2018 2018-01-02 00:00:00
#> 3 800312 Central                 GENERAL                2018 2018-01-02 00:00:00
#> 4 800344 Central                 FRP                    2018 2018-01-02 00:00:00
#> 5 800341 Central                 GENERAL                2018 2018-01-02 00:00:00
#> 6 800343 Central                 FRP                    2018 2018-01-02 00:00:00
#> # ℹ abbreviated name: ¹​area_planning_commission
#> # ℹ 5 more variables: date_case_closed <dttm>, csr <dbl>,
#> #   csr_problem_description <chr>, latitude <dbl>, longitude <dbl>

About

laOpenData makes Los Angeles’s civic datasets accessible to students,
educators, analysts, and researchers through a unified and user-friendly R interface.

Developed to support reproducible research, open-data literacy, and real-world analysis.

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Comparison to Other Software

While the RSocrata package provides a general interface for any Socrata-backed portal, laOpenData is specifically tailored for Los Angeles Open Data Portal.

This package is part of a broader ecosystem of tools for working with open data:

• nycOpenData — streamlined access to NYC Open Data\
• nysOpenData — streamlined access to NY State Open Data
• mtaOpenData — streamlined access to MTA-related NY State Open Data
• chiOpenData — streamlined access to Chicago-related City Open Data

Together, these packages provide a consistent, user-friendly interface for working with civic data across jurisdictions.

• Ease of Use: No need to hunt for 4x4 dataset IDs (e.g., 2ucp-7wg5); use catalog-based keys instead.
• Open Literacy: Designed specifically for students and researchers to lower the barrier to entry for civic data analysis.

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Contributing

We welcome contributions! If you find a bug or would like to request a wrapper for a specific Los Angeles dataset, please open an issue or submit a pull request on GitHub.

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Authors & Contributors

Maintainer

Christian A. Martinez 📧 c.martinez0@outlook.com
GitHub: @martinezc1