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Welcome to the Data Center's Urban Connection site, an online resource for further detail and links for stories contained in the Spring 2006 Urban Connection.

 It is our intent to make this web site as easy to use as possible, and we'd appreciate any feedback on difficulties you encounter using this site. Any text in green is a link which can be clicked on to go to another site or to further information on a topic.

What Do We Measure

We are often drowning in information, but we do not use it well. The Data Center program supports the mission of the Nonprofit Center by facilitating effective use of information by nonprofit organizations in all phases of their work:

- assessing the needs of neighborhoods and constituents
- planning effective strategies to address needs and target populations
- evaluating the results of programs and the impact of investments

Knowing more about the community, patterns of need, changing circumstances, how programs match or fail to reach segments of the community, can change the way we manage our work. Data is no longer limited to a population census snapshot every ten years. More frequent census information, and data gathered from other agencies, can be combined in creative ways. Is your organization monitoring the changes in the community that directly affect programs? Is organizational data being used to analyze trends? Can your organization link evidence of organizational effectiveness to impacts in the community? How does data support the decisions your organization makes?

National Trends

Across the country the value of data for local decision making is being recognized.

The Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee is a member of the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) - a network of 26 cities. The partners have built advanced information systems with integrated and recurrently updated information on neighborhood conditions in their cities. Their theme is democratizing information. They concentrate on facilitating the direct practical use of data by city and community leaders. (The vision of NNIP and of partner cities can be explored on line at the Urban Institute) Other networks link communities working on annual "Indicators" projects. See CIC for links. And the National Infrastructure for Community Statistics (NICS) has been exploring a nationwide web-based access to detailed, current community-level statistics from thousands of local, state, federal, and commercial data sources. (See the Community "Wiki" at NICS .) For an example of how this may work, view demographic and housing maps, graphics and data for any census tract in the country at "Data Place" sponsored by the Fannie Mae Foundation at Data Place.

Measuring Community Progress - "Community Indicators"

Individual organizations have data needs specific to their work. But programs share a common community agenda to improve the quality of life of all residents. Baltimore has built a "Vital Signs" report with a neighborhood emphasis found at BNIA. More ambitious projects link indicators to "benchmarks" and assign responsibility for achieving community goals. (See the Boston Indicators Project and Truckee Meadows Tomorrow (Reno).

In Milwaukee, there are several somewhat independent projects
-The Menomonee Valley Partners, Inc.
-The Indicators of Employment and Economic Well Being report by the Employment Training Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
-The Youth Indicators report by Milwaukee Brighter Futures (Site is Down as of 2/20/2007)
-The demographic profile reports prepared by the City of Milwaukee
-The neighborhood results analysis monitoring for Making Connections Milwaukee

and others emerging in health, housing and youth development.

At the state of Wisconsin level, several sites are sources of local indicator data
-The Wisconsin Successful School Guide (WINSS)
-The Wisconsin Interactive Statistics on Health (WISH)

How does all of this come together? In Milwaukee, organizations have met to consider a collective vision of community information. The Milwaukee Data Consortium serves as a link to a variety of resources for information.

A Census Every Year

The U.S. Census now conducts an annual survey - the American Community Survey (ACS) - rather than waiting for 10 years for the Decennial Census. Although the data is the same, a much smaller number of households are surveyed (about xx in Milwaukee county.) At this stage, "local" data is only available for counties and large cities - including Milwaukee. By 2008, reports will include neighborhood level information computed as 5 year "rolling averages."

ACS reports - currently through 2004 - have been important to Milwaukee. We have found that the city leads the nation among all large cities in the increase in the rate of poverty since the 2000 Census. Milwaukee is now ranked 7th in the nation in the household poverty rate. (Note the discussion of this finding in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.) To view ACS reports visit The U.S. Census Bureau.

The Value of Indicators - The Vision from Baltimore

"How do we know we are moving in the right direction? How do we know whether our words and actions are helping create healthy, strong neighborhoods and improved quality of life for the long term?"

Baltimore needed a common way of understanding how our neighborhoods and overall quality of life are changing over time.

These indicators provide a common yardstick by which all stakeholders can know the changing conditions of Baltimore neighborhoods and quality of life over time and assess the impact their actions, strategies, and initiatives have on those conditions.

This enables us, as a city of neighborhoods, to celebrate our success, learn from our failures and hold one another accountable for our efforts to rejuvenate the city. Now, each of us - residents, community leaders, elected officials and policy makers - have a common framework for measuring progress.

Populations On The Move

A local Head Start operator was concerned that recruitment had become more difficult. In their neighborhood, the U.S. Census showed a decline of 50% in the number of children 0-5 between 1990 and 2000. A change map shows that population increased substantially on the near South Side and on the North West above Capitol Drive. Although many fewer persons live on the Near North Side, these communities were high density urban areas and remain highly populated neighborhoods.

What has happened to the number of children in Milwaukee since 2000? The state estimates a slight increase. The Milwaukee Public Schools conducts a census of all children each year and estimates an increase of 3.5% from 2000 to 2004. The U.S. Census ACS survey estimates a decline of 6.5%. (Although, because of sampling this could also be 1.7% or 11.1%.) The State of Wisconsin estimate a modest overall population increase. The Data Center uses these and other sources to estimate how specific neighborhoods may be changing ? but it is far from an exact science.

Do You Know Where Your Clients Are?

Many organizations have not taken full advantage of the information they collect from customers or members. Addresses in these files can be "address-matched" to locate each person or household on a map. When might this be important? Many services are distance-sensitive. For example, programs for young children may serve few children who live more than 1/2 mile away. Matching customer patterns with local populations allows assessing participation rates. Demographics analysis will aid in targeting programs or locating new sites. Customer or member mobility may affect program strategies.

It's About Time - Monitoring Change

A complete data "clearinghouse" makes it possible to move from "snapshots" to "trends" by examining the progress on a problem, the likely contribution of program investment and changes which require additional response. Trend lines of 10 years or more are possible for housing, crime, education, public health, and other topics in Milwaukee. In most cases, a trend can be tracked for any neighborhood or target area.

Meet the Data Center Project Manager - Todd Clausen

The Data Center specializes in customized, rapid turn-around data and mapping services. Todd is responsible for delivering these services. Need a broader selection of skills? Call on Todd to answer your nuclear engineering questions in the area of radiation health physics, bicycle selection and mechanical issues, and problems in interpreting Levantine Upper Palaeolithic tool technologies! More likely, Todd can consult on the use of presentation software, computer hardware and network maintenance, affordable housing policy and other issues.

After a few years working on Nuclear Reactors for GE Westinghouse and the US Navy, Todd spent several years working on Archaeological projects in the Middle East. This travel and work experience exposed him to some of the issues of cultural relevance and appropriateness surrounding development work, and to issues of social justice and equality. He soon started implementing Geographic Information Systems (GIS), databases and other computer methods in his research.

Todd started as an Intern at the Data Center Program in January 2003 and became Data Center Project Manager in October 2004. Todd is responsible for coordinating the work of approximately 12 interns each year, each of whom give approximately 200 hours of service to the Nonprofit Center.

Todd also serves as the Data Center primary cartographer using his graphic design skills to design custom maps and graphics. He also provides IT services and coordination to the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee.