Download a dataset from the Vancouver Open Data Portal

Downloads a dataset and returns it as a tibble or `sf` object. When `cast_types = TRUE` (the default), field types are looked up via [get_cov_metadata()] and columns are automatically cast to integer, numeric, or Date. Datasets containing a `geo_shape` field are returned as an `sf` object; if spatial conversion fails a plain tibble is returned with a warning.

Results are cached for the duration of the R session, keyed on all query parameters. Re-running the same call does not trigger a second download.

get_cov_data(
  dataset_id,
  select = "*",
  where = NULL,
  apikey = getOption("VancouverOpenDataApiKey"),
  rows = NULL,
  cast_types = TRUE,
  refresh = FALSE,
  ...
)

Arguments

dataset_id

Dataset id from the Vancouver Open Data catalogue

select

Column selection / expression string using ODSQL syntax, e.g. `"current_land_value, land_coordinate as coord"`. Default `"*"` returns all columns.

where

Filter expression using ODSQL syntax, e.g. `"tax_assessment_year='2024' AND zoning_district LIKE 'RS-'"`. Default `NULL` returns all rows.

apikey

Vancouver Open Data API key, default `getOption("VancouverOpenDataApiKey")`

rows

Maximum number of rows to return. Default `NULL` returns all rows.

cast_types

Logical; use metadata to auto-cast column types and convert spatial datasets to `sf`. Default `TRUE`.

refresh

Bypass the session cache and re-download, default `FALSE`

...

Ignored; retained for compatibility with earlier versions

Value

A tibble, or an `sf` object when the dataset has a `geo_shape` field and `cast_types = TRUE`.

See also

[get_cov_metadata()] for field names and types, [aggregate_cov_data()] for server-side aggregation, [search_cov_datasets()] to find dataset IDs

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# Filtered download: parking tickets on one block
get_cov_data("parking-tickets-2017-2019",
             where = "block = 1100 AND street = 'ALBERNI ST'")

# Select specific columns and limit rows (useful for exploration)
get_cov_data("property-tax-report",
             select = "tax_assessment_year, current_land_value, zoning_district",
             where = "tax_assessment_year = '2024'",
             rows = 100)

# Spatial dataset: returned automatically as an sf object
property_polygons <- get_cov_data("property-parcel-polygons")
class(property_polygons)  # "sf" "data.frame"
} # }