USING INFORMATION FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE Finding the Data that Work for Your Community Tom Kingsley and Kathy Pettit, The Urban Institute NAPC-CIC National Conference - May 14, 2005

FOR COMMUNITY INDICATOR SYSTEMS Major improvement in data availability u Purpose this briefing – Review the new opportunities – Talk about how to take advantage of them u Advances driven by needs for new data to enable interpretation 1. Data for smaller areas (neighborhoods) – Problems unevenly distributed across space – City level averages tell little (misleading) – Need to know where, how much, when 2. Data for larger areas (for comparison) – Don’t know where you stand unless know how relate to others

Three kinds of advances affect LOCAL AND STATE/NATIONAL DATA LocalNational New data sets Automated records, local agencies Making data sets (admin.& survey) accessible Tools (access and manipulate) GIS technology Web technology GIS technology Web technology New/stronger Institutions Intermediaries (e.g., NNIP) Intermediaries (e.g., Fannie Mae Fdn., NICS)

Local administrative data – power with MULTI-SOURCE, MULTI-TOPIC SYSTEMS Neighborhood level – social/economic/physical u Births, deaths u Crimes u TANF, Food Stamps u Child care u Health u Schools u Employment Parcel level – physical/ economic u Prop. sales, prices u Prop. ownership u Code violations u Assessed values u Tax arrears u Vacant/abandoned u City/CDC plans

PARCEL LEVEL DATA -BALTIMORE

NEIGHBORHOOD DATA -BALTIMORE

NEIGHBORHOOD PROFILES- PROVIDENCE

Institutions: National Neighborhood Indicators Partners (NNIP) Atlanta Baltimore Boston Camden Chattanooga Cleveland Denver Des Moines Hartford Indianapolis Louisville Los Angeles Miami Milwaukee Nashville New Orleans Oakland Philadelphia Providence Sacramento Seattle Washington, DC

More cities -- at various stages Battle Creek Canton Chicago Columbus Dallas Detroit Grand Rapids Kansas City Las Vegas Little Rock Memphis Minneapolis Newark New Haven New York Phoenix Pittsburgh Portland Richmond San Antonio St. Louis Toledo Utica Winston-Salem Battle Creek Canton Chicago Columbus Dallas Detroit Grand Rapids Kansas City Las Vegas Little Rock Memphis Minneapolis Newark New Haven New York Phoenix Pittsburgh Portland Richmond San Antonio St. Louis Toledo Utica Winston-Salem

NNIP Data Intermediaries: INFORMATION FOR CHANGE u Democratizing Information - Facilitating the direct use of data by stakeholders not just writing the reports yourself u A central mission — strengthening, empowering low-income neighborhoods - Partners work for many clients but influence of this theme evident in all their work u Information as a bridge for collaboration

NNIP DATA INTERMEDIARIES u NNIP Partners (to date, mostly nonprofits partnering with governments) -Government agencies (Seattle) - Community foundations (Atlanta, Boston, Denver) - University centers (Cleveland, Los Angeles) -United Way based groups (Des Moines, Indianapolis) -Nonprofit intermediaries (Chattanooga, Louisville, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Providence, Sacramento) - Local Coalitions (Baltimore, Camden, Hartford, Oakland, Washington) u All work by collaborating - With public agencies, nonprofits, businesses

u Offer a one-stop-shop for data - Tremendous efficiency for users - Benefits of social infrastructure u Positioned to maintain trust of data providers and users over long term - Not linked to short term political interest - Care with cleaning and release of data u Are, or can be, locally self sustaining - Fee/project income can cover majority of cost - But some local general support required

NNIP – LOCAL APPLICATIONS u Comprehensive Indicator Systems -Only Boston and Baltimore so far -Expect expansion, with links to CIC, KNII u Applications indicators in change initiatives - Welfare-to-work planning (5 cities) - Prisoner reentry issues (12 cities) -Neighborhood health studies/programs (5 cities) -Community development/land market (6 cities) -Early warning indicators -Applications with neighborhood residents (use indicators in improvement planning, change external laws/practices)

Recent national initiatives create NEW OPPORTUNITIES u Community Indicators Consortium u National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) u National Infrastructure for Community Statistics (NICS) u Key National Indicators Initiative (KNII) u Fannie Mae Foundation’s DataPlace All call for new efforts to BUILD LOCAL CAPACITY –Recognize few cities have systems so far

u Building tools around innovations u NNIP Partners’ Data System and DataPlace u Cross-site studies to learn about the dynamics of neighborhood change u Many forms of dissemination u Limited technical assistance to help groups in new cities get started NNIP: Partnership Agenda

National Infrastructure for Community Statistics (NICS) –Goal – accessible, integrated sources of data at all levels –30-40 federal agencies, national nonprofits, local stakeholders and foundations coordinated by Brookings –A forum to exchange data, services and products: »Data: new sets with community-level information »Tools: to better access, manage, combine, clean, compare and analysis community statistics –Began with four workshops on local, state, federal and private stakeholders –Currently beginning pilot projects and fund raising

Key National Indicators Initiative (KNII) –Goal – create national indicator system and promote use of indicators at all levels –Mobilized by GAO, now coordinated by National Academy of Sciences –Will use available data sources to describe American people, the economy, and the environment –But also identify gaps for key unanswered questions –Current funding from Hewlett Foundation; role in system development uncertain

u Created in response to request for easy-to- access data from KnowledgePlex users’ survey u Housing and demographic data at geographic scales from the neighborhood to the nation u Dynamic interfaces for producing maps, charts, tables, and statistical profiles u Aids to facilitate data use, such as metadata, analytic guidebooks, and illustrative analyses u Directory of housing data resources on the Web Fannie Mae Foundation’s DataPlace

National data – MULTI-SOURCE, MULTI-TOPIC Neighborhood level – census tracts/zip codes u Decennial Census u Mortgage lending u Subsidized housing u Establishments u Income/EITC u School characteristics u Nonprofit sector Larger-Area Data – counties, metros, states u Population estimates u Amer. Comm. Survey u Building Permits u Unemployment u Home prices u Local employment (LED) u Income/poverty

Mailing address: Tom Kingsley or Kathy Pettit National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership c/o The Urban Institute 2100 M Street NW Washington, DC u Web site: u Finding the Data that Work for Your Community