Each year Next American City chooses more than 30 outstanding young leaders from around the country to join together for a two-day conference. Called Next American Vanguard, the group and the conference are dedicated to understanding American cities and strategizing ways of improving them. The class of 2010 represents fields ranging from arts to transportation to climate change and historic preservation. Coming from 20 different states, the group reflects the diversity of American cities and the challenges and opportunities facing them. This year’s class will be joined by 10 members of last year’s Vanguard, adding to the expertise and network of this group.
Social Compact congratulates and proudly supports our very own Nebahat Noyan, Director of Innovations and Applications, who was selected to join the 2010 Next American Vanguard forum in Philadelphia in May. We look forward to her continued successes!
WASHINGTON, Mar 11, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE)—Social Compact announced today the launch of its Washington, DC-based ‘CityDNA,’ a new easy-to-use web-based system that will serve as a one-stop-shop for visualizing and analyzing local market data. CityDNA aims to help local governments, investors and community groups understand and respond to the unique market characteristics of their communities.
CityDNA is made possible through support from the Citi Foundation and marks a giant leap forward in the technical capacity available to stakeholders working toward sustainable community development in the District. “The Citi Foundation’s support of Social Compact’s innovative technology will help Social Compact achieve its mission, which is to enable community development practitioners and private investors to drive investments and revitalization in underserved communities in Washington, DC, and ultimately throughout the United States,” said Ron Guggenheimer, Global Director of Business Intelligence and Analytics, Global Transaction Services, Citi and Executive Vice Chairman of Social Compact.
Developed in partnership with Universal Mind, a cutting-edge web-design and data-management company, CityDNA allows both experts and novice users to easily create their own data solutions, including customizable reports, maps, charts and tables based on their queries about specific communities in the city.
“The launch of CityDNA today heralds the arrival of a new era of information-led development for our community development partners in Washington, DC. Local governments, investors and community development organizations--whatever their size and capacity--will now have access to the very best local market data and information management technology,” said Social Compact’s President and CEO, John Talmage. “Developing tailored, localized data solutions for attracting investment or responding to mortgage foreclosures will now take a matter of minutes rather than days or months,” says Talmage.
CityDNA, a resource for informing market stabilization and revitalization strategies, will store a multitude of data including comprehensive real estate information provided by First American CoreLogic Inc.
“We are delighted to continue our long-standing support of Social Compact with the launch of CityDNA today. CityDNA will collect data generated by First American CoreLogic and is the perfect platform for the community development field to respond to the current real estate challenges and opportunities in Washington, DC,” said Karen Collins, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at First American Corporation.
More than 1,200 jobs and 30 new business have been created in Columbia Heights since 2002, the result of a public-private partnership that has helped transform a struggling inner-city community into a thriving neighborhood. And an additional 30,000 square feet of retail development is in the pipeline. These figures were reported by Social Compact, a coalition of business leaders from across the country who are promoting successful business investment in lower-income communities for the benefit of current residents.
(July 9, 2008, WASHINGTON, DC) - With hundreds of billions of dollars at stake, Social Compact President and nationally recognized expert John Talmage is urging city leaders to closely examine the annual population estimates being released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday in order to ensure that their residents are being counted accurately.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the decennial count directly impacts the yearly allocation of more than $200 billion in federal funding to states, cities, and municipalities. “A majority of private investment decisions are based on these numbers,” Talmage noted. “For this reason, it is critical that cities take a close look at their own data as well as the census calculations derived from it.
“The U.S. Census Bureau is gearing up for the decennial census and is working with local governments to improve the accuracy of the 2010 Census,” said Talmage. “Their desire for the best count ensures that every person is counted and counted correctly.”
Social Compact is providing technical assistance to several cities to attain a more accurate count. In Detroit, Michigan, 47,000 residents have been added back to its population since 2006.
“The Census’s annual estimate is based on a city’s or municipality’s housing unit counts,” Talmage added. “This data is housed and managed by the localities themselves, so the cities are their own best sources to ensure the accurate count of their population.
“Social Compact encourages cities to take a proactive approach and helps them not only standardize their data to submit a successful challenge to the Census Bureau, but navigate the process and facilitate communication with the bureau as well,” Talmage said.
Cincinnati, Ohio successfully challenged the city’s 2005 population estimate, resulting in an additional 22,582 people. This 7.3% increase over the original estimate negated the population decline that was projected from the 2000 Census.
“Our successful challenge had a dramatic effect in the perception of Cincinnati. The negative number had been a dark cloud over the city, but our challenge made people recognize all of the new development and progress throughout our city,” said Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory. “Mayors need to lead the way and actively work with the Census Bureau to get the most accurate population estimate for their cities.
Since challenging the estimates, Mallory has established the Cincinnati Complete Count Committee, with the dual purpose of improving its counting system and raising public awareness on the importance of being counted.
The Census Bureau encourages the active participation of local governments through its Complete Count Committee program (CCC) and Local Update of Census Addresses program n(LUCA). LUCA helps the bureau develop its Master Address File, which will be used for the 2010 Census.
Social Compact encourages local governments to work closely with the Census Bureau throughout the census process by providing the data the bureau needs and encouraging residents to respond to Census surveys in order to ensure a more accurate count of their
citizens.
About Social Compact
Social Compact is a national not-for-profit organization, led by a board of business leaders, whose mission is to help strengthen neighborhoods by stimulating private market investment in underserved and undervalued communities. Social Compact accomplishes this through its Neighborhood Market DrillDown analytic tool, developed
to accurately measure community economic indicators, and provides this information as a resource to community organizations, government decision makers and the private
sector. Social Compact is at the forefront of identifying the market potential of underserved neighborhoods.
