PAD688 - Assessing Community Needs
Census Data - SUNY Brockport's Federal Government Documents Page is another starting point for government data.
The Census data provide an excellent "snapshot" of numerous socio-demographic (poverty, population, etc.) aspects of the external environment. Moreover, because the data are gathered decenially (every ten years), we can track changes in neighborhoods, cities, and counties over time. Take a look at some of the links below. How has your home town changed since you were born? How has it changed since the 1990 Census?
Census Data - Browse the links below for some of the latest Census information available for your home town and for Monroe County. There is a wealth of information available available at the site. If you find it overwhelming at first, look through the following areas at the top of the Census 2000 home page:
American Fact Finder - Here you can find tables and maps of Census 2000 data down to the block level. This has more detailed data. You can select to view either tables or maps. Then, select the type of data you want to see and the geographic area.
State and County Quick Facts - quick summaries by state or county of the most-requested data. Select "Monroe County" to see how Monroe County compares to the whole state in terms of population growth, poverty, ethnicity, employment, etc. Also click on "Browse More Data Sets for Monroe County, NY" and peruse some of the data there.
"Enter a Street Address to find Census 2000 data" - Go here if you want to see how you compare to your neighbors.
Near the bottom of the screen you will also see a link to the 1990 Census.
Another excellent source of information is now available from the online NY State Statistical Yearbook. Here you will find 15 categories of information available at the state and county level: population, business, employment, local government, banking, crime, housing, education, health, transportation, energy use, agriculture, recreation, state government, and elections.
An alternative source of information can be found at the USA Counties - 1998 web site. Wide variety of statistics available--much of it cross-temporal (i.e., over time). Select New York as state and Monroe as county and General Profile as table.
Economic information is also available at the 2002 Economic Census web site.
Below are examples of miscellaneous other types of available data:
Hints:
- If, for example you want "Labor Market Area" (a Census category) data in Excel format, type into Google: "Labor Market Area .txt .xls"