Census Bureau Maps Its Challenges for 2010

The US Census Bureau has released its map of "hard to count" census tracts in advance of the 2010 count.


The data behind this map were developed by studying factors that might suggest people's response to the Census count:

"We looked at what we considered 12 variables that are behind what makes a (Census) tract hard to count," says Steve Jost, associate communications director at the bureau. "Whether or not more people are living in the same housing, whether or not housing has a telephone, the poverty rate, high school graduation rate, linguistic isolation, mobility, unemployment."

The Census Bureau has been working closely with the State Census Data Center (SDC) network, with Governor's Liaisons for the 2010 Census, and with advocacy and partner groups to identify hard-to-count areas and, more importantly, approaches to overcome those challenges.

State Census Data Center contacts will likely have "hard-to-count" scoring at a smaller than tract level and may need to partner with their state GIS Coordinators to help expand on that data with additional information to help guide state and local efforts to ensure a complete count of the nation in 2010.

Bob Marx, GIS Pioneer at the US Census, Has Passed Away

I just got this sad note from Tim Trainor at the Census Bureau. Bob was a friend and colleague. We gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award from his home state of Minnesota in 2001.

Will Craig
University of Minnesota
=============================

It is with a sad heart that I inform you of the passing of Robert W. Marx, former Chief of Geography Division. Bob succumbed to an illness on Monday, September 7, 2009 with his family at his side.

Bob served as Chief of the Geography Division from 1983 to 2003 (interrupted by a 3-year period as Associate Director in the 1990s to prepare for Census 2000). He was the architect of the Census Bureau’s TIGER System which began in the early 1980s as a collaborative effort with the U.S. Geological Survey. Bob was a visionary who sought ways to advance the importance of census geography through new technological developments that were made practical through useful applications. By making spatial data for the nation available, the TIGER effort opened the way for GIS development and created an entire new industry which continues to grow. Bob was a friend to all and will be sadly missed by his colleagues.

During his more than 36-year career at the Census Bureau, he received several awards for exceptional performance, including the Department of Commerce’s Gold and Silver Medals, and the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award.

Bob Marx is survived by his wife of 44 years, Jan. They have two grown sons and eight grandchildren. On Saturday, October 10, there will be a memorial service celebrating Bob at the Springfield Christian Church in Springfield, VA. More details will follow prior to the event.

Tim Trainor
Chief, Geography Division
U.S. Census Bureau

A Few Words from the NSGIC President: A Breath of Fresh Air

The following is the ninth in a series of monthly guest-posts from 2008-2009 NSGIC President Learon Dalby, of Arkansas.

NSGIC has posted a briefing document (in PDF) on three major issues -- IFTN, Title 13, and Governance -- which we have shared with a number of folks in Washington. This isn't just our document; NSGIC has worked with many others in the geospatial community to move these issues along. We are thrilled to see that movement.

Here are two things we hope for:

1. The GIS Community will unite and work together rather than working independent of one another, and
2. All this work and movement will result in action.

Here are some actions we've seen on each of these issues. This is movement. This is progress.

Imagery For The Nation (IFTN)

• The National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) has expanded coverage with additional funding.
• The FGDC Executive Committee is actively working on an implementation plan for IFTN.
• The Office of Management and Budget has expressed interest in seeing IFTN move forward.
  

Title XIII on Addresses and Coordinates

• A study by the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget to address privacy concerns related to information sharing, including address data.
• NSGIC continues to make its views known about releasing address point locations from Title 13 restrictions.
  
• National CIO Vivek Kundra specifically spoke to the need to release addresses and coordinates in an interview in Wired Magazine.
• The National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA), in its Notice of Funding Availability for broadband mapping (PDF), has called for states to map broadband access at the address level. NSGIC has made NTIA aware of the files maintained by the Census Bureau.
  

Governance

• The Congressional Research Service has published a detailed report on geospatial governance.
• A Congressional oversight hearing on geospatial governance has been scheduled for July 23.
  

All of these may seem like minor things; taken individually, they don't tell us much. But when you take a step back and look at the big picture, it has to make you smile.

On the Participant Statistical Areas Program

The following is a guest-post from Randy Fusaro, of the US Census Bureau, on the Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP).

The 2010 Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) will allow participants, following Census Bureau guidelines and criteria, to review, update, and delineate new census tracts, block groups, census designated places (CDPs) and census county divisions (CCDs). The goal of the PSAP is to define appropriate census tracts, block groups, CDPs and CCDs to obtain meaningful, relevant, small area and place-level statistical data. The updated boundaries for these areas will frame all of the 2010 Census tabulations, and will be used for the American Community Survey (ACS) beyond 2010. Data tabulated to these PSAP geographic entities are used by various local, state, and federal agencies and organizations for planning and funding purposes, as well as the private sector, academia, and the public.

Regional and county level governments and organizations are the primary participants in the PSAP program. These primary participants are required to coordinate among all interested parties so that the resulting 2010 PSAP plan accommodates the needs of all interested governments, organizations and individuals in their area. State governments that would like to contribute to the process should contact the Census Bureau Regional Census Center Geographer to get the contact information for the primary participants in their state.

Local governments, organizations, and interested individuals have been essential in the conceptualization, delineation, review and update of Census Bureau small area statistical geographic entities since the early 20th century. The first census tracts were delineated for the 1910 Census. With each consecutive Census, blocks, tracts and other delineations have been added and updated. Local participation and support is crucial for accurate and meaningful small area delineation.

In April 2007, the proposed criteria for the program were published in the Federal Register. Comments were adjudicated and the criteria revised. Final criteria were published in February and March 2008.

The Census Bureau is currently in the process of identifying PSAP participants. The materials for the program, including editing software and county level data, will be distributed to participants later this year. PSAP Training will be offered by the Census Bureau Regional Census Centers (RCC). The participants are expected to review and update the boundaries, returning the materials during the first half of 2009, after which the Census Bureau will review and verify the boundary information.

In creating the 2010 PSAP plan, PSAP participants review and update census tracts, block groups, CDPs and CCDs (in some states) to accommodate changes in their communities and to meet the 2010 PSAP criteria. The following are examples of types of edits that should be executed by the PSAP participants.

• Census tracts that are above the maximum threshold of 8,000 population and 3,200 housing units should be split, while maintaining the integrity of the historical outer boundary.
• Tracts that are below the minimum of 1,200 population and 480 housing units should be merged.
• It is not recommended that major changes to CCDs occur, but, for example, a name change should be made if it no longer reflects areas within the CCD and the community within the CCD.
  

These are examples of potential changes created during the PSAP process. A full detailed list can be found in the PSAP criteria.

The Census Bureau encourages participation in the PSAP process in order to maintain the most up-to-date and accurate small area boundaries for the most effective tabulation of 2010 Census data. More information is on-line on the Census Bureau site.

A New Census Atlas

The US Census Bureau has published what it is calling its "first comprehensive atlas in more than 80 years."

The new Census Atlas of the United States includes map presentations of a variety of demographic factors from the 2000 Census. And there are comparisons with earlier data. The image at used here, for example, is a reproduction from Scribner's Statistical Atlas of the United States (1883).

Most of the maps are at the national level, with some detailed maps for metropolitan areas and major cities.

This is a coffee-table style of book -- large format, with 300 pages and almost 800 maps. The Atlas is available on-line in PDF format and can be purchased on-line (for your favorite state GIS Coordinator, perhaps?) for $165.

Visualizing Internal Migration

Two newspapers, the Charlotte Observer and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, have put together an on-line map to present a graphic look at IRS migration data.

IRS migration data are often used in population estimates and projections programs.

The map allows users to select a county and see graphically, and in tabular form, where in-migrants came from and where out-migrants went to. The map data is limited to county-to-county migration within the US. The tabular presentation also lists international migration (and non-movers) and presents median household income for each group.

The graphic shown here is a national-level view of where in-migrants into Maricopa County, Arizona, originated. Maricopa County was recently listed by the Census Bureau as having the largest numerical population increase since the 2000 Census.

Promotional Phase of Census Bureau's LUCA Process to Start in January

State GIS Coordinators should expect to see letters from the US Census Bureau in the new year promoting the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) process, which will kick into gear in the spring.

According to a report Census staff made to a recent meeting of the National State Data Center Steering Committee, informational letters will be sent in January to elected officials, GIS coordinators, LUCA contacts, and BAS (Boundary and Annexation Survey) contacts to let them know that LUCA is on its way.

In a first phase, there will be LUCA workshops in the early spring in each state to introduce the concept of LUCA and lay-out the various options for participation. These will include some technical content, but will be designed to introduce the program to local leaders and encourage participation.

As reported earlier on the NSGIC Blog, there will be three possible levels of participation, ranging from the technically advanced and restricted by confidentiality agreement to the less advanced and less restricted.

A second phase, in July, will seek commitment from local governments; this will include invitation letters and registration materials. For those wanting to do a full review, these will also include confidentiality agreements and security checklists required under Title 13 of the US Code.

The Census Bureau is working with State Census Data Centers (SDCs) on the promotional workshops and has asked the SDCs to help review the technical training information. It seems likely that SDCs and GIS Coordinators will want to work together to make sure that the training works well for the local governments they both serve.

According to Census Staff, the training as now configured will take 4.5 to 5 hours. They would like to shorten it, if possible. The training materials will be standardized, nationally, but will be flexible enough to adjust to local needs. It will not be a "hands-on" computer training; there will be a PowerPoint overview of the Bureau's software and processes for LUCA review.