Neighborhood-Level Change in Internet Use: Chicago’s Smart Communities BTOP Program Karen Mossberger, Ph.D Arizona State University Caroline Tolbert, Ph.D. University of Iowa Christopher Anderson University of Iowa Support provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Partnership for a Connected Illinois Report available at Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition Conference, 2014

What are the “Smart Communities”? 9 low and moderate-income Chicago neighborhoods 15% of city population (ASR Analytics 2012) $7 million BTOP SBA Grant to City of Chicago Chicago LISC and community organizations implemented Part of comprehensive neighborhood revitalization initiative Programs: FamilyNet Centers, basic and EveryDay digital training Civic 2.0 training, online resources for neighborhood groups Business Resource Networks Youth programs – YouMedia, Digital Youth Networks, Digital Youth Summer Jobs Tech Organizers, Ad Campaigns on Bus Lines Community Portals

Why Measure Neighborhood Change? Smart Communities goal: creating a culture of digital excellence to improve quality of life in communities Dual burden of concentrated poverty – being poor in a low-income community (Federal Reserve and Brookings 2008) Community factors influence Internet access and use, over and above individual poverty, education, race, ethnicity, etc. (Mossberger, Tolbert and Gilbert 2006; Mossberger, Tolbert, Bowen and Jimenez 2012) But, neighborhood spillover effects are evident in some studies of computer use (Goolsbee and Klenow 2002) Is it possible to create an environment to encourage technology use, through programs, leadership, social networks and resource sharing?

Measuring Activities Online Activities online provide a better picture of skills and potential social benefits for public policy – Human capital-enhancing activities like use for work, job search, politics, finances, and other information-intensive activities are more demanding than uses like entertainment; they increase with experience ( DiMaggio et al. 2001) – Number of activities online matters for skill (Wei 2012) – Home access is related to these activities online in past research (DiMaggio and Bonikowski 2008; Mossberger, Tolbert and Hamilton 2012) – Activities online are related to the goals of community-building and quality of life – Do certain activities online lead to longer-term impacts in those areas (such as employment or education)?

A New Approach to Evaluating Digital Inclusion Initiatives Evaluation measured neighborhood-level change in Internet use, broadband home adoption, and activities online, in 2008, 2011, and 2013 Based on 3 Chicago citywide random digit-dialed telephone surveys in English and Spanish, with landline and cell phone sampling (n=2,000+ respondents for each) Responses were geocoded and merged with census tract demographic data Multilevel models were used to estimate Internet use, broadband adoption, skills and activities online for Chicago’s 77 community areas, creating the opportunity to compare treated and non-treated neighborhoods over time The statistical models adjust for small survey sample sizes within Chicago Community Areas. These numbers can be read like percentages, but are probability estimates based on statistical models. Multivariate regression using these estimates was used to control for change in % poverty, high school degree, over 65, and Black, Hispanic and Asian-American. Multi-method evaluation also surveyed program participants, conducted baseline and follow-up interviews with community organizations, and measured change for residents and neighborhood organizations

At First Glance Some Smart Communities neighborhoods had increases of Internet use anywhere and home broadband adoption of more than 20 percentage points for Collectively the Smart Communities had a 9 percentage point increase in Internet use anywhere and broadband adoption at home, which was about double the change in other Chicago community areas. But, does this change persist when we control for demographic change between 2008 and 2013?

Internet Use Anywhere: 2013

Comparison with 2011 A similar (multivariate) analysis was conducted measuring change between 2008 and 2011 (Tolbert, Mossberger and Anderson 2013) In 2011, there were also statistically significant differences between the Smart Communities and other Chicago neighborhoods – higher increases for Internet use anywhere But NOT for home broadband adoption or any activities online The Smart Communities did not offer discounted broadband, though they worked to promote Comcast Internet Essentials after the 2011 survey The 2011 survey was taken less than a year after the start of the Smart Communities

Broadband: 2013

Online Job Search: 2013

Online Health Info: 2013

Transportation Info: 2013

Other Measures There were no significantly higher increases in the Smart Communities (compared to other Chicago neighborhoods) for: – Use of the Internet for government information (any government) – Use of City of Chicago website – Use of the Internet for political information – Use of the Internet for an online class or training

Evidence of Significant Neighborhood Change Results are statistically significant and substantively large, and could not have occurred by chance We can eliminate explanations such as gentrification or a greater rate of change in all low-income neighborhoods, suggesting that the program may have had a role in promoting change The higher rate of change after 2011 suggests important questions – is this a deepening of activity online for participants, length of program activity, or the introduction of Internet Essentials, promoting home access? Activities online – digital citizenship, or the ability to participate in society online (Mossberger, Tolbert and McNeal 2008)

Future Research: Needs and Resources Changes include activities online that can lead to meaningful outcomes in the future – for employment, health, and access to jobs and services Will these changes in activity online be related to neighborhood changes in these outcomes in the future? New data on Internet use for US Counties and the 50 largest cities will be available, Based on the methods used to estimate Internet use for Chicago Can promote further study of change at the substate level Will be publicly available at an online repository at Arizona State University Supported by an NSF grant to the University of Iowa and subcontract to Arizona State