A Lightweight Interface to the Austin, Texas Open Data APIs

Provides a unified set of helper functions to access datasets from the Austin, Texas Open Data platform < https://data.austintexas.gov/>. Functions return results as tidy tibbles and support optional filtering, sorting, and row limits via the Socrata API.

ausOpenData

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

Version 0.1.0 introduces a streamlined, catalog-driven interface for Austin 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:

aus_list_datasets() — Browse available datasets from the live Austin Open Data catalog
aus_pull_dataset() — Pull any cataloged dataset by key, with filtering, ordering, and optional date controls
aus_any_dataset() — Pull any Austin Open Data dataset directly via its Socrata JSON endpoint

Datasets pulled via aus_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 Austin Open Data.

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

Installation

Development version (GitHub)

devtools::install_github("martinezc1/ausOpenData")

Example

library(ausOpenData)

aus_vacent_buildings <- aus_pull_dataset(
  dataset = "golf_courses_in_austin",
  limit = 10
)

head(aus_vacent_buildings)

About

ausOpenData makes Austin'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.

Comparison to Other Software

While the RSocrata package provides a general interface for any Socrata-backed portal, ausOpenData is specifically tailored for Austin 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
laOpenData — streamlined access to Los Angeles-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., 9t4d-g238); use catalog-based keys instead.
Open Literacy: Designed specifically for students and researchers to lower the barrier to entry for civic data analysis.

Contributing

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