Community Indicators in Local Policy-making

Defining, Tracking, and Displaying Regional Equity Conditions: Two Approaches from the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Region

This paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of two significant regional indicator projects for the Portland‐Vancouver metropolitan area. Specifically,this paper focuses on the measurement of equity conditions at a regional scale. In 2003,the Coalition for a Livable Future (CLF), in partnership with Portland State University (PSU), launched the nation's first regional equity atlas endeavor that pushed the notion of equity to the forefront of regional discourse.Defined primarily in terms of access to opportunities, especially in spatial terms,the atlas took advantage of the analytical capabilities and graphic power of mapping and map sto convey its findings. Published in 2007,the Regional Equity Atlas was intended to provide a baseline measure that would be updated overtime. With the release of the 2010 Census, CLF began to explore new approaches for the 2.0 version of its Equity Atlas.

Using Local Government Data to Inform Policy for Urban Neighborhoods

As cities increasingly use data to benchmark performance, there are opportunitiesto use the data to informpolicy. By layering data fromvarious government agencies,there are amyriad of opportunities to informthe policy discussion. Many citiesstruggle with stabilizing urban neighborhoods in transition. Thisresearch shows how data thatis available frommultiple local government agencies can be used to provide amore comprehensive view of neighborhoodsin transition. Chattanooga, Tennessee enacted a 311 systemin 2003 as a performance toolto track local government efficiency.Ofthe over 2 million calls, an important subset are those made regarding neighborhood conditions‐‐complaints about housing, littering and overgrown areas. When geocoded these, complaints provide a snapshot into neighbors that are transitioning. Combined with otherlocal government data sources including geocoded data aboutthe location of places that sell liquor and absentee residential owners (derived
from parcel data and tax information), a richer and more contextual picture emerges about urban areas. Public safety is but one area that bedevils urban neighborhoodsin transition, but it is one that if identified can have targeted policy measures enacted.Using spatial analysis,these various data sources can be used to predict areas of property crime and inform the development of policy.