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.

Users now can change Add Data Layers and Add Sites from the menu at the top of the map. All unique features of the widgets are still there; users can pan and zoom around, click to open an info bubble with more data, add both thematic and address level data, print maps, and much more.

For our current widget clients, it is a simple matter of adding a small piece of code (&altLayout=true) to the end of the URL in your iframe, and your widget will have the new layout. Contact us today for help updating your widgets. For users looking to add a fully interactive map which can access our complete library of data and also any data you send to us, there is now another way to display the PolicyMap Widgets.

Learn more about other ways to customize your widgets here.

If you would like more information on the widgets, please contact us at pmap@policymap.com or call us at (866) 923-MAPS. We would be happy to give you a demo of PolicyMap and show how others are using data to drive their websites.

The map is separated between moderate and high risk flood zones. Moderate flood zones (in yellow) are at risk of a 500-year flood, meaning that, probabilistically, there is likely to be a flood once in 500 years. High risk flood zones (red) are at risk of a 100-year flood.

Remember, though, that these are just probabilities. Here in Philadelphia, we’ve now had two 100-year floods in two weeks.

Did you know when a data layer is added, the Legend will display specific information about the current data layer (e.g. Year, Variable, Range Values, etc) and the range for each color on the map. The legend also gives you the ability to fully customize the map by; changing the year, how the data is displayed by changing the variable, making your own custom ranges, and host of other features.

Depending on the data layer added, you can toggle between available years, quarters, or even months. Some years are only available to subscribers and trial users.

Changing the variable will change what data is displayed on the map. Each data layer might have specific and unique variables. You can toggle between different variables, including the number (#), median value ($), percent (%), or even the change across years (%Ch) depending on the data layer displayed.

PolicyMap displays data at different geography levels; the zoom level determines what geography the data on the map is shaded by. For example, when looking at the nation, data is shaded by state. As you zoom in, the geography the data is shaded might change to the county, zip code, census tract, and finally block group level as you zoom further in; this also depends on the availability of the data at that geography for each data layer. A great place to see what geographies each data layer is available at is the Our Data page.

The “shade by” pull down menu gives you the ability to change the geography at which the current data layer is shaded. For example, you can create maps of Philadelphia County by zip code or city, instead of the default shade level of census tracts.

The legend will contain the data source for the data being displayed. Whenever possible, the source is a presented as a live link to our Data Directory with more information about that source.

The Clear Data Layer option will remove the current thematic data layer but keep you zoomed at your current location and keep any point dataset from Add Site on the map.

Subscribers and trial users have the ability to create custom values for each range. To customize click Edit Ranges, and define the values for each range. When you are done editing your ranges, click Apply to show the custom ranges on the map. Restore Defaults will revert cut points back to default.

This unique feature allows a user to define their own ranges for how data is shown on the map. The Edit Ranges can be used for any variable in PolicyMap. Users can create custom ranges for income, percentages, percent changes, and much more. For example, do you want to find

Subscribers or trial users can also change the color spectrum used on the shaded map. If you do not like our default purple color palette, then you can choose the olive or blue. We will have more added soon.


Another great feature for subscribers and trial users is the ability to increase or decrease the number of ranges shown on the map using the pull down menu. This is helpful if you want to simply the ranges of data or if you need to show more complexity in the shading. Also, 2-3 color ranges are good for printing in black and white.




Just remember, when you initially load a thematic data layer on PolicyMap, you will see the default settings so make sure check the legend for other options to customized the data layer. To read a full guide on all features on PolicyMap, please look at our Primer available here.

If you wanted to know more about a feature or topic, send your request to info@policymap.com subject “Did you Know…”

Sincerely,
The PolicyMap Team

What we’ve done to account for these changes is to create a bridge table that we think allows us to show most accurately the 2010 data on our 2000 maps. The bridge was created by looking at where 2000 and 2010 Census block boundaries overlapped. For example, if a given Census 2010 block overlapped two separate 2000 block groups, we allocated a percentage of Census 2010′s population proportionately to each of the 2000 block groups. The percentage we used to create the 2010 Census block group data on PolicyMap was calculated based on the area of the 2010 Census block that was in each block group. The bridge table does not include small slivers of area that represent less than 10% of the Census block area.

For Census tracts and counties that have split, merged or otherwise significantly changed from 2000 to 2010, we don’t use a bridge table, however. We show these 2010 data as simply having “Insufficient Data.”

Why do we do this? It’s because we can currently only show one map vintage at a time on PolicyMap. We’re working to remedy that, though, just in time for the 2006-2010 American Community Survey data release in December.

But before that, we’re looking forward to the full release of the Census 2010 Summary File 1 this month! We’ll let you know once it’s available from the Census and it has replaced the Redistricting Data currently on PolicyMap.

Did you know after loading a point (address level) dataset from the Add Sites menu, users can use the filter feature to show only address(es) that match a specific indicator. To use the filter option, select the icon in the Add Sites legend of a loaded dataset and a menu of filter options will appear, you then simply select the indicator you want to filter by. For example, if you load the Schools and Libraries > Schools dataset, you can then choose to filter and show only “public charter” schools. Selecting this filter for schools will remove public and private schools and only show locations of public charter schools.

(Note: not all point datasets will have filter options so look for the icon)

If a point (address level) dataset has multiple indicators, users can then select multiple filters. Another example would be if you load the Federal Housing > HUD Multifamily dataset and open the Info Bubble, you will see multiple tabs with lots of data for each multifamily site. Most of the indicators for each locations can be used as filters allowing users to find a specific group of addresses. So with the HUD Multifamily data, users can select to show addresses with a “Contract Status” of active AND an “Owner Company Type” of non-profit. The map will now only show address that match the two indicators. Select the icon to remove any filters selected.

Finally, the “color code all” option is our most unique way to filter addresses on the map. This option will display each address by specific color and each color will represent a type of data for the indicator selected. For example, load Health > Hospitals and select the “color code all” option for Faculty Type. This will now show each type of facility by their colors shown in the Add Sites legend; orange are Childrens, white is Short Term, green is Long Term, and so forth.

If you wanted to know more about a feature or topic, send your request to info@policymap.com subject “Did you Know…”

Sincerely,
The PolicyMap Team

Did you know subscribers and trial users can generate a detailed report for a pre-defined location, radius around an address, or custom region. PolicyMap built each report by grouping together similar datasets that help describe a location. Users can generate as many reports for as many locations needed without additional costs. All reports use the latest data available in PolicyMap, so what you see on the maps and tables, can quickly be turned into a report.

First, choose the type of report you wish to generate. Each report was created with the idea that the data in a report will better describe the area you selected. Here are descriptions of each report:

• The Community Profile is a snapshot of life in area, including information on its population, racial composition, age, income, workforce, and much more. See a sample Community Profile report here.
• The Rental Housing Report includes rent information by bedroom size, income, and affordability data. See a sample rental report here.
• The IRS Tax Report offers information about the types of deductions residents make on their income tax returns. For example, you can find out how many tax filers are making contributions to an IRA, contributing to charities, or claiming the EITC. See a sample IRS report here.
• The HDMA Report is a summary of the number, typical amount, and type of home mortgages origins, including high-cost lending activity and high interest loans by race or ethnicity. See a sample HMDA report here.
• The Home Sale Report provides a summary of the number of sales, median sale amount, aggregate sale amount, and loan-to-value ratio for 2006-2009 annually and for all quarters of 2007, 2008, and 2009, along with housing market trends between 2000 and 2009. See a sample home sale report here.
• The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia HMDA report is a series of detailed data tables from HMDA, designed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. This report focuses on the number, median amount, and percent of originated loans by various characteristics, including government insurance, rate spread, loan type, loan purpose, and race of loan applicant.

Once you have selected which report to generate, you can decide what area the report will generate. There are many unique ways to select or create that area:

Pre-defined Locations – To generate a report based on a pre-defined location such as a state, county or census tract, click “Pre-defined Location”. Select a location by entering a zip code, city, state, county or other geography. (A pre-defined geography cannot be an address). You can also generate a report for census tracts, Congressional and State districts, school districts, and Metro Areas. Use these tabs to find one of these areas just as you would on the Map page. Click GO and then click the Generate Report button on the page that follows.

Radius – To generate a report for the area around an address, click “Radius”. Specify the center of the radius by typing in an address. Enter the full address; including zip code and click Go. Your report area, with a default radius of half a mile (0.5), will appear on the map. You can change the size of the radius by typing in a new size in the “specify radius” box at the top of the page. Click GO. The map will redraw with the radius you have chosen as a highlighted orange region. When you are ready to create the report, click Generate Report.

Custom Region – To create a report based on a region of your choosing, click “Custom Region”. You can generate a report for a custom region you have already created and saved, or create a new one. To pull up a previously saved custom region, select from the My Saved Custom Regions drop down menu. Draw Custom Region will allow you to draw a new custom region for the report.

To create a Custom Region from the Reports page, set the location to the general area where you wish to draw by typing in a zip code, state, city or select a predefine location from the tabs in the Set Location bar. Click GO. Choose how you want to build the custom region by; Draw on top of the map, Assemble predefine geographies, or as a Radius around an address. Follow the instructions for each type of custom region you want to create and click Generate Report when you are done.

Polygon Region – Premium subscribers have the ability to upload prebuilt custom regions called Polygons. To generate a Polygon report, premium subscribers should load their data from Add Sites and selected from the icon of the polygon and choose the option to generate a polygon report or a radius of a polygon. If you choose a radius report, the specified center will be the longitude and latitude of the centroid for the polygon.

Finally, once you have generated your report, you can save it to access at a later time or print a PDF copy to share. All saved and printed reports will be available in your My PolicyMap section.

Look for new upcoming report features like the option to quickly copy each section and paste into your work, the ability to choose what geography of data each section uses to aggregate, or the very dynamic report builder. Or if you have a suggestion or request on a feature, please contact us at pmap@policymap.com or call us at (866) 923-MAPS.

In terms of federal entitlement spending, PolicyMap has a few indicators that show how much is going to different areas. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is one program that financially aids low-income people who are age 65 or older, blind, or disabled. On PolicyMap, you can see both how many and what percentage of people in different counties receive SSI. In 2009, seven of the top ten counties that received SSI, in terms of percent of population, were in Kentucky, led by Owsley County.

Owsley County also leads the nation in percent of population that received Food Stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), at 51.1% in 2008.

Another good indicator you may want to check out to measure entitlement spending is redemptions in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.

On the revenue side of the budget debate, we have the most direct source there is: the IRS. We have data on taxes paid, and who’s paying those taxes, so if taxes are indeed raised, you can see whether people in your area will be affected.

In the tax revenue debate, discussion has centered around raising rates on the highest marginal income levels. Using IRS data analyzed by the Brookings Institution available on PolicyMap, we can see how many taxpayers in a given area have annual incomes above $100,000. Looking at percentages, the counties with the highest concentrations of wealth are suburbs like Hunterdon County, New Jersey; Falls Church City, Virginia; Howard, Maryland; and Marin, California. However, if you look at the total number of high-income taxpayers, the number one county is Los Angeles. Why is this interesting? It’s also the county receiving the most benefits through WIC program.

There’s one other set of indicators on PolicyMap that are interesting to look at regarding the debt-ceiling debate: Congressional election data. And it shows that both parties may have a lot to lose in this debate. Los Alamos County, New Mexico, has the highest concentration of high-income taxpayers. It also is part of New Mexico’s Third District, where Democrat Ben Ray Lujan received 57% of the vote in 2010. In Kentucky’s Fifth District, where Owsley County sits, Republican Harold Rogers won overwhelmingly last election.