Creative Assets Mapping: Engaging our Stakeholders to Make a Tool People Need

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Katie Nelson

PolicyMap is partnering with the Social Impact of the Arts Project (SIAP) at the University of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy to build a data and mapping tool for the City of Philadelphia. The tool will be powered by PolicyMap, leveraging our robust spatial database in order to inform planning, marketing, policy development and public investment strategies related to the arts and creative economies here in Philadelphia. The mapping and analytical capabilities of this platform are intended both to foster cultural engagement and to further neighborhood economic development through the synergies of creative activity and community building.

This month the creative assets mapping team took our project to local stakeholders here in Philadelphia for feedback and discussion. As we begin to coalesce around the tool’s data, design, and features, we decided it was critical to get input early on from the tool’s community of potential users.

Our conversations were dynamic, with ideas ranging from generating Philly neighborhood arts and culture profiles to using the tool to locate new creative firms or target potential cultural audiences. In addition to use cases, we identified many of the datasets that users want to have at their fingertips, and even located sources for much of this information. We are particularly excited about the willingness of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialists from the City to make data available to us to share with the public through our creative assets mapping platform.

Altogether we hosted four user-group sessions on November 3rd and 4th, each centered around a distinct type of user: artistic and creative programming, tourism and marketing opportunities through cultural assets, real-estate and economic development applications, and cultural funders and capacity building. Each of the sessions was unique in its focus, but many common themes and ideas permeated all the sessions including: using the tool to facilitate relationship building and data sharing; using it to evaluate the impact of policies and programs over time; and using the tool to help make better decisions either through advocacy or in investment decisions.

Most of all, we are thrilled at the level of anticipation that greeted our presentation of the data we have already and the analytical opportunities afforded by interactive online mapping. As we move now into a more intensive development phase of the tool, we will continue to seek input from these voices as well as Philadelphia’s broader cultural and creative community.



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Area Median Income for 2012 is available…already!

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Katie Nelson

Typically the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) releases its Income Limits dataset in March or April, but this year the data has already been released for 2012 – and you can find it now on PolicyMap.

HUD is required by law to set annual income limits for participation in federally assisted housing programs such as Section 8. These income limits are determined by calculating a median family income for areas all across the country, and then adjusting the median based on the number of people in the household. Different federal programs have different requirements, so PolicyMap displays various different income thresholds – ranging from 30% of area median income to 120% of area median income. You can find all this data under the Money & Income tab.

Recent updates to this dataset include:

  • In FY2010, HUD announced an end to its “hold harmless” policy. Until recently, income limits values could not be reduced, only increased over time or held steady. Now the income limits are able to increase or decrease up to 5% per year.
  • In FY2011, HUD began to calculate income limits based on American Community Survey (ACS) data.
  • In FY2012, the change is in the release date. Responding to requests to make this data available earlier, HUD will be releasing Income Limits in December for the following year. Because of the early release, AMI for 2012 is still based ACS 2005-2009 data.

Meanwhile, PolicyMap is gearing up for our analysis and processing of the new ACS 2006-2010 5-year estimates data. We’ll be upgrading to the new 2010 Census boundaries as well. Keep a lookout in the new year!



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PolicyMap’s Use to Non-profits Highlighted by Citi

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Bernie Langer

Today, Citigroup featured an article on their blog by our own Elizabeth Nash about the need for good data among non-profit entities, and Citi is working with PolicyMap to achieve that goal. You can read the article here.

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About Census 2010 Summary File 1 Data

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Bernie Langer

Many of our users have asked where they can find the Census 2010 data on PolicyMap, and we wanted to be sure to get the word out about it. Because the Census data was only made up of a few indicators in 2010 (with the American Community Survey, or ACS, making up the remainder of them), you’ll find only a subset of the Census data you may be used to on PolicyMap, located primarily in the Demographics tab and the Neighborhood Conditions tab. These indicators include Total Population, Race, Ethnicity, Age, Sex, Households and Families in Demographics, and Vacancy in Neighborhood Conditions. All other current estimates you see on PolicyMap (those labeled with the year 2005-2009) are ACS indicators. All Census data for the foreseeable future will be divided up in this way. So, although many data users were expecting the full suite of Census indicators they had in the 2000 Summary File 3, the Census has changed its delivery method and methodology, and it is now distributing many of those through the ACS. The good news is that the ACS is updated annually, instead of decennially, and so estimates for household income, poverty and the like will be refreshed every year. For more information about the ACS, please see our previous blog post here. And find out more about how the 2000, 2010 Census and ACS complement each other here.

Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have about these data. We’ve spent a good amount of time learning about how and why the Census took this approach, and we’re happy to discuss it with you.

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Nominate PolicyMap for Crunchies 2011

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Kavita Vijayan

Please help us nominate PolicyMap to become a Crunchies 2011 finalist under the Biggest Social Impact category.

You can nominate PolicyMap at : http://is.gd/6w80va

Please nominate PolicyMap everyday and ask all your social networks to do the same. Nominations close Dec 13th.



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Retail Clinics on the Rise and on PolicyMap

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Phil Vu

Authored by Ken Gross, Ph.D.

A solution to the nation’s skyrocketing health care cost just might be found at a grocery store near you. A study appearing in the recent issue of the American Journal of Managed Care (1) found that medical care initiated at retail clinics is 30-40% less expensive than similar care provided at a physician’s office and 80% less expensive than care provided in an emergency room. Large numbers of consumers are beginning to take advantage of the convenience of having health care services available where they do their grocery shopping. According to the study, retail clinic use has increased 10-fold from 2007 to 2009. The study results showed that proximity to a retail clinic was the strongest predictor of use. In other words, when it comes to health care, place matters.

As retail clinics continue to grow in popularity, good data is needed in order to make good decisions about strategically locating new retail-based health clinics. This is where PolicyMap can help. On PolicyMap you can not only see the locations of all retail clinics, but also the locations of nurse practitioner-led clinics, federally qualified community health centers, community health centers and hospitals. Taken together these points represent the health care safety net which the Institute of Medicine defines as, “Those providers that organize and deliver a significant level of health care and other related services to uninsured, Medicaid, and other vulnerable patients.” (2) PolicyMap also has the locations of supermarkets across the United States. Combining safety net locations, supermarket locations and demographic information, PolicyMap provides the essential elements for thinking strategically (and spatially) about improving health care access and reducing health care costs across the United States.
Continue reading →

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New Education Data on PolicyMap

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Bernie Langer

If you want to learn about the newest data on PolicyMap, then check out the Education tab. We’ve added a significant amount of new data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), relating to elementary and secondary education in public school districts. All the new data is at the school district level. Here’s a list of the data we’ve added:

  • Pupil/Teacher Ratio
  • Graduation Rate
  • Total Revenue from Local, State, and Federal Sources
  • Total Expenditures per Pupil


Continue reading →

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PolicyMap maps on latest Marketplace story on

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Maggie McCullough

American Dream Fails In Inland Empire

TRANSCRIPT
Listen to the full audio broadcast of this story here

Kai Ryssdal: The recession is, officially, over. A lot of experts and some economic indicators agree on that. But the experts and the indicators don’t know what they’re talking about.

In California’s Inland Empire, that’s definitely true. The Inland Empire’s out in in the desert east of L.A. with 4.3 million people living there, nearly double the population of Nevada. In the decades before the recession, it was the place families went to to pursue the American Dream. There were cheap suburban houses with two-car garages and good jobs in construction and warehousing and trucking. There were so many jobs, in fact, that the unemployment rate fell below 5 percent. Now, it’s triple that in many towns, and the dream has turned into something of a nightmare.

Today, in the first of a two-part series, Marketplace’s Mitchell Hartman takes a trip to to see what the future might hold.
Continue reading →

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Two PolicyMap Clients in the News – Congratulations!

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Phil V.

Citi Community Development Wins Community Impact Award for Role in Kindergarten to College Program at Annual CRA & Fair Lending Colloquium


NEW YORK, Nov 17, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Today, Citi Community Development announced that it received the 2011 Community Impact Award from Wolters Kluwer Financial Services in recognition of Citi’s leadership, support and ongoing involvement in the development and implementation of the Kindergarten to College (K2C) program in San Francisco. K2C is the nation’s first universal college savings program and combines asset-building opportunities with financial education. The award was presented on November 8 at the 15th Annual Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) & Fair Lending Colloquium in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Community Impact Award is bestowed each year “to dedicated compliance professionals and their institutions,” to honor “outstanding and innovative efforts in furtherance of the goals of the Community Reinvestment Act.” The Award also is intended to encourage innovative community lending and to provide the financial industry with examples of superb programs that have made a large impact on underserved communities.

Click Here to read the full press release on MarketWatch published on 11/17/2011.



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Interactive Map Highlights County Health Needs

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Phil Vu

Posted by Liz Locke of YourPBC.org

Area clinic and hospital resources, capacity issues highlighted

Concerned with areas in Palm Beach County that are at risk for poor health due to lack of access to health care facilities, the Florida Public Health Institute and the Community Health Network, with funding from the Quantum Foundation, has created an interactive mapping tool to clearly identify areas of need. The new interactive map was unveiled at the Community Health Network meeting on Wednesday, October 26.

This web based tool will highlight clinics and healthcare facilities by location and cross reference them with several demographic and other indicators to tell the “visual” story about the county’s health needs and resources.
Continue reading →

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