If you are not familiar with GIS jargon, we recommend that you read the Terms and Definitions (PDF) document we have prepared before proceeding with this Data Download Guide. You should also review the VGIS Data Warehouse Theme Categories and Layer Naming Convention document.

Download Formats
Data available on-line from VCGI is all provided in Vermont State Plane Meters projection and NAD83 datum. The great majority of layers will download in the shapefile format. If you encounter a layer that is in an unfamiliar format giv us a call or email.

If you use either the regular Download option () or the Custom Download () option (clip and zip application) you will get a zipped (.zip) ArcView shape (.shp) file(s) which will require the use of compression software such as "Winzip" in order to unzip them. Once they are unzipped, you can bring the shape files into any Arc software and start using them.

If you need any other format you will need to contact us.

Steps Involved In Finding, Downloading, And Importing Data From VCGI:

1. Go to www.vcgi.org

2. Click on the "VGIS Data Warehouse" tab.

2.a. Most GIS data that is publicly available in Vermont will be available from VCGI, and you will have a choice of three methods to search for data at the VCGI site.


2.b. Some local or regional data is only available directly from the Regional Planning Commissions (RPC). A link to RPC web sites is provided at the Data Warehouse as is a link to the "Indicators Web Page" which provides a wealth of statistical information about towns and counties in VT. Parcel data is the most commonly sought data that is available only from the RPCs or the towns themselves (if it exists).

3.a. If you know what category or "theme" the data is likely to be in, try using the theme search tool. Pick a theme from the list; you will be provided a "Search Results" table that includes all the data layers listed under that theme.


3.b. If you know the name of the data file or you want a specific type of data, type the name or one keyword into the keyword search. You will be provided a "Search Results" table. Note: Keep your keywords short and simple (ex: parcel instead of parcels).


3.c. If you would just like to browse, or don't know where the data you are interested in would be categorized, click on the "theme index" link on the navigation bar of the data warehouse page. You will be given a list of themes and sub-themes. If you click on a sub-theme, you will be provided a "Search Results" table.

4. The Search Results table includes the following for each data layer: Name, Description, More Information Button, Download Button, and Custom Download. You may also get a listing of CD products relevant to your search criteria; these are generally either downloadable tables or data that is distributed via CD and must be ordered.

5. The more information window that pops up when you click on the question mark icon gives you some information about the data (we call it metadata lite) and a link to the full metadata. If you are not familiar with the term "metadata" we strongly encourage you to read this Metadata Resources Page .

6. To download the data you will have two choices in most cases:

6.a Your first option is to click on the Download button and if the data is statewide in extent a "save as…" dialog box will open, and you will tell it where to save the .zip file. If the data is tiled (broken up into smaller chunks such as town or county), clicking on the download button will open the "Tiled Data Download Tool," which allows you to pick the tiles you want and then download them. Think about where you want to put your data before you start to download, you want to be able to find it later. In order to uncompress the data, you will unzip it using a program such as Winzip.


6.b. Your second download option is to click on the Custom Download button . The Custom Download option allows the user to "clip and zip", which refers to the process of choosing the data you are interested in, viewing it in a dynamic map format, zooming to the geographic area you are interested in and finally "clipping" it to that area and "zipping" it into a compressed format for download (those final two steps are accomplished with one click). Once you have saved the .zip file on your local drive, you will unzip it using a program such as Winzip.

7. If all of the above has gone well, you are now ready to view and manipulate VGIS data using ArcExplorer or ArcGIS. Give us a call (802-882-3002) or email ( ) if you have problems.