# Historical Building Footprint Data **URL:** \ **Category:** NHGIS\ **Created:** [September 11, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/historical-building-footprint-data/3752 "2020-09-11T18:45:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Rusali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ryan\_Rusali](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Ryan_Rusali)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/historical-building-footprint-data/3752/1 "2020-09-11T18:45:09Z")
Hello! I’m currently doing a research project investigating the evolution of cities over time and was wondering if there was any historical building footprint data available in the database. I’ve been looking around for the past few hours but couldn’t find what I was looking for. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![MPC\_vanriper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@MPC\_vanriper](https://forum.ipums.org/u/MPC_vanriper)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/historical-building-footprint-data/3752/2 "2020-09-11T18:54:38Z")
Hi Ryan, Unfortunately, we do not have any building footprint data in NHGIS. The Census Bureau doesn’t collect and publish data on that topic, so we don’t have information on it. The Bureau publishes some data on number of rooms in occupied dwelling units, which could be used as a proxy for building size. But, it would only serve as a proxy! Dave ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Rusali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ryan\_Rusali](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Ryan_Rusali)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/historical-building-footprint-data/3752/3 "2020-09-11T18:58:49Z")
Hey Dave, Thanks for the quick response! That’s too bad but I appreciate your help a lot. Thanks again. Ryan