Halifax Housing Pulse

Public civic-techhousing

2026-06-23

A public dashboard that turns HRM permit and planning records into a cautious view of local development momentum.

What I built

Separates observed building-permit activity from earlier-stage planning applications.
Uses a Python and SQLite pipeline to normalize public ArcGIS records into static dashboard data.
Publishes source provenance and conservative caveats so activity is not mistaken for completed housing.

Context

Independent civic data project · 5,000+ permit records and 500+ planning applications

Stack

Python / SQLite / Astro / React / ArcGIS / GitHub Actions

Outcomes

Combined building-permit activity and planning applications in one plain-English public dashboard.
Built a reproducible pipeline that stages source records and publishes static JSON for the frontend.
Made source provenance, retrieval status, and data limitations visible alongside the reported metrics.

Live demo

Halifax Housing Pulse makes HRM building-permit activity and planning applications easier to explore without working directly with municipal datasets.

How it works

A Python and SQLite pipeline cleans public ArcGIS records and publishes static data for an Astro and React dashboard.

The dashboard keeps two signals distinct:

Building permits show recorded permit activity.
Planning applications show proposals moving through the planning process.

Why build it?

Public housing data is useful, but easy to overstate. Permits and planning applications indicate development momentum; they do not prove construction, occupancy, affordability, or confirmed housing supply.

The project presents those records in plain language while keeping provenance and limitations visible.

Visit Halifax Housing Pulse