Online reporting systems like the Greenprint report report tool query, one at a time, a range of layers to build individual area reports. The volume of data in the Greenprint meant we could not rely on that approach - each report would take many minutes to run. Instead, we created a "fishnet" - a grid of 30-meter square polygons across the region, where each grid cell contains values for many different metrics. Creating an area report then involves selecting the correct grid cells (those within the area the user selected) and summing, averaging, or otherwise aggregating the values for each of the metrics.
Precise unit values have been assigned to the fishnet cells - data layers have not been downsampled. Not all data can be accurately reflected in the grid. Those that would double-count, exclude, or misrepresent attributes are handled outside of the fishnet. Those variables not in the fishnet are maintained in their original form. This combination of methods allows for both fast performance and accurate results. Metrics we expect to update frequently are also maintained outside of the fishnet.
Note that most data is clipped to the nine-county Bay Area, so reports that extend outside the edge of the Bay Area will be incomplete.
The product you are downloading is precisely what the online tool uses - a feature class of vector points, representing the centroids of the 30-meter fishnet grid overlaying the Bay Area. Why centroids and not the polygon grids? Because it's significantly smaller in size, and easier to use when summarizing at your own custom geographies. Note that this is still a very large dataset at 4+ GB in size. It contains over 20 million records and more than 90 fields.
The download package includes a data dictionary describing all the fields in the fishnet, their units of measurement, and math needed to be performed on each in order to match the content of the Greenprint report. For those metrics that did not fit into the fishnet, the data dictionary lists those as well, along with links to their definitions and sources.
Included in the data download package:
Note: Not all data present in the Greenprint is included in the fishnet. Some types of data, such as linear features, are more efficiently queried as native vector data. Other elements added over time, such as the data powering the Mitigation Wizard and demographics data added in 2023, were technically infeasible to add to the core fishnet and so are not included.
If you're working on a project that changes its footprint frequently, or a series of many projects (dozens or even hundreds), you may want to use this data on your own desktop rather than uploading individual project shapefiles over and over again. If that does not describe your needs, we encourage you to read through this documentation before committing to running the data on your own. We estimate it will take as long as a full workday to download everything and work through how to use it on your own.
Most of the data used in the Greenprint tool are freely available online. Look at the glossary for individual data source citations and links, and please feel free to reach out to us with questions (info@bayareagreenprint.org). Some datasets require a license (such as CNDDB, the California Natural Diversity Database), some were exclusively shared with the Greenprint team and are not yet available to the public (such as RAMP, the Regional Advance Mitigation Project), and some are compound datasets created by the Greenprint team (such as Important Habitat for Threatened and Endangered Vertebrates).
Version 9 — Sept. 27, 2023
In the web reporting system, we added a new Equity theme and associated metrics.
This fishnet version includes 4 new layers to support this theme.
Equity
New: CA Climate Priority Populations
New: CTCAC/HCD Opportunity Area
New: Demographics by Race
New: Demographics by Income
The demographics data is not available in the publicly downloadable fishnet due to technical and data limitations.
For any questions, please use the CONTACT link at the bottom right corner of this page.
Version 8 — July 18, 2023
22 layers newly updated, across the themes Overview, Agriculture, Water, Recreation, Biodiversity and Habitat, Urban Greening, Resilience, and 30x30.
Overview
Updated: CA Senate Districts
Updated: CA Assembly Districts
Updated: City Limits
Updated: Priority Development Areas
Updated: Transit Priority Areas
Updated: Tsunami Inundation Areas
Agriculture
Updated: Farmland Mapping & Monitoring Program layers, including
Updated: Additional Water (mm) For Irrigation - Warmer and Wetter
Updated: Additional Water (mm) For Irrigation - Hotter and Drier
Water
Updated: Impaired Waterbodies (303d listed)
Updated: Impaired Waterways (303d listed)
Updated: 100 yr floodplain
Updated: 500 yr floodplain
Updated: Naturalness of 500 yr floodplain
Recreation
Updated: Bicycle Routes (Class I and II)
Biodiversity and Habitat
Updated: Fish Passage Priority and Total Barriers
Urban Greening
Updated: Park Need
Resilience
Updated: 100 yr Floodplain
Updated: 500 yr Floodplain
Updated: Naturalness of 500 yr Floodplain
Updated: Park Need
Updated: Additional Water (mm) For Irrigation - Warmer and Wetter
Updated: Additional Water (mm) For Irrigation - Hotter and Drier
30x30
Updated: 100 yr floodplain
Updated: 500 yr floodplain
Updated: Naturalness of 500 yr floodplain
Updated: Park Need
Updated: Additional Water (mm) For Irrigation - Warmer and Wetter
Updated: Additional Water (mm) For Irrigation - Hotter and Drier
For any questions, please use the CONTACT link at the bottom right corner of this page.
Version 7 — Sept. 7, 2022
Overview
Recreation
Resilience
30x30
For any questions, please use the CONTACT link at the bottom right corner of this page.
Version 6 — April 6, 2022
Overview
Agriculture
Biodiversity & Habitat
Water
Resilience
For any questions, please use the CONTACT link at the bottom right corner of this page.
Version 5 — Oct. 13, 2020
5 new data layers and fishnet fields, along with updates to an additional 15 layers
Overview
Agriculture
Biodiversity & Habitat
Carbon & Air Quality
Water
Recreation
Urban Greening
Version 4 — Dec. 19, 2019
Addition of 8 new layers to the fishnet, with a focus on stormwater, popularity of outdoor locations, pollution exposure risk, and displacement risk. This download includes layers added in both Version 3 and Version 4.
Overview
Water
Recreation
Urban Greening
Version 2 — Sept. 1, 2018
Addition of 18 new layers to the fishnet, with a focus on hazard assessments, soil ratings, and community vulnerability indices in urban areas
Agriculture
Irrigation Capability Class
Soil Storie Index
Carbon
Urban Forest Carbon
Overview
Fire Hazard Severity Zone
Historic Wildfires
Liquefaction Susceptibility
Priority Development Areas
Rainfall-induced Landslides
Seismic Hazard
Tsunami Inundation Area
Wildland-Urban Interface
Recreation
Bicycle Routes
SF Bay Area Water Trail Launch Sites (Existing and Planned)
Urban Greening
Disadvantaged Communities
Pollution Cancer Exposure
Communities of Concern
Park Need
Urban Heat Island (Air Temperature)
Version 1 — June 21, 2017
