Reflections on the October National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Meeting

A few weeks ago, my UCSUR colleague Liz Monk and I attended the Fall, 2015 partner meeting of the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) in Dallas, Texas. NNIP is a community of practice for data intermediaries organized by the Urban Institute. NNIP has participation from over 30 cities and a growing number of organizations with a national scope. It’s a great place to talk shop and learn from friends in other cities about how information can be used to improve neighborhoods and the lives of people that call it home. NNIP as a network has been in place for the past 20 years, and Pittsburgh has been a partner city since 2008. Early this year, I joined the Executive Committee of NNIP. It’s come to feel like family, as I’ve gotten to know so many talented and creative colleagues who also don’t know how to explain what they do for a living to other members of their family. This blog post captures my reflections on the meeting.