Written by Marshall Kirkpatrick / May 12, 2009

Databases. They’re not just for those with specialized skills anymore. Want to know what kinds of insights into the world everyday people can find when the right tools are available to process plenty of data? Check out this example below.

One year ago we wrote about a fascinating service called PolicyMap, a website where users can view more than 4000 different data sets laid out on a map down to the city street level. I found which parts of my neighborhood donated more money to John McCain than to Barack Obama, and vice versa. Today PolicyMap launched a new feature for subscribers that allows up to three points of data to be cross-referenced. You may or may not be interested in subscribing to PolicyMap, but anyone can see from the screencast below just how much potential technologies like this have.

There’s a button to view this video full screen in the bottom-right corner of the player.

This is pretty interesting stuff, is it not? The ability to cross-reference different sets of data with factors like geographic location is really exciting. Extrapolate from this, if you will, by imagining what kind of things could be made possible if programmatic access to data from Facebook could be layered into systems like this. Or any other large data set that’s hording it. Anonymous aggregate data made available to developers who can build interfaces that allow end users to analyze that data is likely to be an even more important resource in the near future than it is today.

Click here to read this article by the Marshal Kirkpatrick which appeared on ReadWriteWeb on May 12, 2009.

PolicyMap 2.0 – Analytics: The new Analytics feature is now available to subscribers! This revolutionary neighborhood search tool will allow you to find neighborhoods that match up to 3 criteria on a map and generate a list of resulting places. Use the tool to answer an endless number of questions such as:

“Where are neighborhoods with low educational attainment rates and low household incomes, but close to mass transit?”

“Where are high poverty areas in close proximity to a mass transit stop and in good school districts?”

“Where are older homes in low vacancy areas that might be most in need of weatherization assistance?”

and more!

This feature is a major breakthrough and one we think policymakers and professionals will find invaluable. For those of you involved in deciding where and how to spend unprecedented stimulus dollars or how to allocate limited resources, you now can easily search for, find and then target neighborhoods where intervention could matter most.

Watch a video demo of PolicyMap’s newest feature: Analytics

TRF’s PolicyMap Unveils Version 2.0

Upgraded Online Mapping Site Lets Users Layer and Compare Data

(Philadelphia) May 11, 2009 – TRF’s PolicyMap (www.policymap.com) today unveiled version 2.0. The newest version of this revolutionary website provides quick and flexible analysis of neighborhood-level data nationwide. At subscribers’ fingertips now are answers to questions relevant to job training (e.g. Where are neighborhoods with low educational attainment rates and low household incomes, but close to mass transit?), housing (e.g. Where are high poverty areas in close proximity to a mass transit stop and in good school districts?), energy (e.g. Where are stable communities with high utility costs, potentially most in need of home weatherization assistance?) and more.

With PolicyMap 2.0, those involved in deciding where and how to spend unprecedented stimulus dollars or foundations deciding how to allocate limited resources have a quick and flexible tool for searching for those neighborhoods where intervention could matter most.

“With the introduction of PolicyMap Analytics, TRF’s PolicyMap can reshape how policymakers use data and maps to understand the markets in which they work,” said Jeremy Nowak, President of TRF. “PolicyMap is the simple, fast, and efficient platform that many are demanding to guide policy decisions and help strategically allocate resources.”

PolicyMap subscribers can find those neighborhoods that meet up to three criteria from more than 4,000 data indicators related to demographics, real estate markets, education, employment, money and income, crime, energy, and public investments. TRF aggregates data from a variety of public and private sources including U.S. Census, Claritas, FBI, IRS, the Postal Service, and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. Additional PolicyMap 2.0 functionality lets users rank data, download public datasets and provides for an extraordinary level of
customization.

“PolicyMap offers tools both for us as the investor and for the organizations that we support, offering both of us the detailed neighborhood data to plan for real impact,” said Lois Greco, Senior Vice President and Evaluation Officer, Wachovia Regional Foundation.

Nearly 150,000 people have used PolicyMap since the site launched just under a year ago. To date, PolicyMap has more than 11,000 registered users. Its varied subscribers include the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia, foundations such as the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, public agencies including the New Jersey Housing Mortgage Finance Agency, private entities like Comcast as well as nonprofit community organizations nationwide. PolicyMap is a 2009 finalist for CNET’s Webware100 award.

About TRF’s PolicyMap

PolicyMap is an online mapping tool that makes it quick and easy to gather and analyze geocentric information. PolicyMap is a service of The Reinvestment Fund (TRF), a not-for-profit leader in the financing of neighborhood revitalization. TRF developed PolicyMap to empower decision makers with better access to credible market and demographic data. To see how PolicyMap Analytics works, check out tutorial address. To learn more about PolicyMap, visit www.policymap.com.  To learn more about TRF, visit www.trfund.com.