Indicators

Project Indicators

The following documents list the indicators that have been discussed in our initial community meetings.

• Indicator list from the community meeting of Nov 2001: november.pdf (16 KB)
• Indicator list from the community meeting of Feb 2002: february.pdf (20 KB)

Examples from various indicator studies

Economics || Infrastructure || Information Sharing || Civic Engagement || Arts and Culture
Diversity || Education || Government || Health || Environment || Visual/Physical Design

Economics

Jobs

• Unemployment rate
• Total employment
• Number of layoffs
• Percent increase in number of jobs
• Number of people that work at home or telecommute
• Average distance to employment centers

Poverty Income levels

• Number of workers with multiple jobs
• Percent of population receiving food stamps
• Percent of pupils eligible for free lunch
• Population below the poverty level

Economic growth

• Total sales revenue
• Percent increase or decrease of sales
• Net retail sales per capita
• Number of homes sold
• Number of new homes sold
• Number new homes built
• Taxable real estate value
• Number of vacant lots
• Vacancy rates in office buildings
• Vacancy rates in hotels
• Tourism/bed tax revenues

Training

• Career resource availability
• Number students in vocational/tech schools

Worker support

• Number of jobs with benefits

Core industries employment diversity

• percent primary sector
• percent secondary sector
• percent tertiary sector

Small business recruitment

• Number of employers with less than 50 employees

Large business recruitment

• Number of employers with 50 or more employees

Affordable Housing

• Value of homes
• Value of property
• Average rent
• Availability of affordable housing

Development (housing/business)

• Building permits issued for new construction
• Building permits issued for renovations and additions
• Number of retail stores
• Number of service establishments
• Number of restaurants
• Number of grocery stores
• Access to transportation
• Average number of residents per dwelling
• Average age of houses
• Average size of houses
• Number of houses total
• Average distance to services

Infrastructure

Traffic

• Number of vehicles entering the area
• CO2 emissions
• Automobile occupancy
• Vehicle miles traveled
• Waiting time at signalized intersections
• Number injury/fatal accidents with at least one car
• Road congestion or service levels
• Number of speed bumps
• Pavement condition
• Number vehicles per household
• Average number of people per vehicle

Sidewalks

• Feet of sidewalk
• Number of marked crosswalks
• Average distance of sidewalks from curbs

Bike paths

• Number of pedestrian/cyclist traffic accidents
• Number bicycle route miles

Alternative Transportation

• Percent of subsidy spent on public transit
• Percent of subsidy spent on private transportation
• Number of crimes committed on transit
• Ridership/number passengers using public transport
• Proportion of transit service miles to total street miles

Sanitation

• Acres of refuse dumps (or percent increase)
• Tons of collected refuse
• Wastewater production
• Age of septic systems
• Tons of recycled material
• Number of sewer vs. number of septic hookups

Water

• Percent of residents with well water vs. municipal water
• Water use
• Water cost

Stormwater

• Number of flooding reports during storm events
• Number of retention/detention ponds

Public access

• Number of parks that are public vs. private
• Acres of park space that are public vs. private
• Average monthly use of public recreation areas
• Variety of recreational facilities
• Number of parks
• Number of recreational/community facilities

Green space

• Acres of preserved space
• Acres of urban forestland

General

• Average electric consumption per capita
• Number of street lights compared to County average

Information Sharing

Communication

• Viewership of government access television

Technology process

• Number of internet ready computers at libraries
• Number of internet ports available in public facilities
• Number of homes with computers

Visioning process

• Number of public projects completed with public input

Planning process

• Number of publicly noticed events/meetings

Media portals

• Number of newspapers serving an area
• Percent of population subscribed to newspapers
• Number of neighborhood or civic association meetings

Civic Engagement

Citizen participation/volunteerism

• Amount of people volunteering for humanitarian organizations
• Percent increase in contributions made to non-profits

Voting

• Percent registered voters
• Percent of the registered voters who actually vote
• Percent of people accurately naming two Councilmen/Commissioners
• Number of pollworkers
• Number of people involved in voter education/registration
• Number of active voter education/registration organizations

Associations

• Number of neighborhood/civic associations
• Participation in neighborhood/civic associations
• Number of religious facilities

Advocacy

• Number of advocacy groups active in the community
• Amount/sources of non-profit revenue for the neighborhood

Leadership

• Number of people who own businesses
• Number of people serving on a church or non-profit board
• Number of people who have run for office
• Number of people who lead organizations

Community Spirit

• Number of neighborly activities
• Attendance trends at concerts, plays, museums
• Attendance at events at community centers

Beautification

• Adopt-a-highway participation
• Participation in clean-ups
• Number of greenways and trails or scenic highways

Arts and Culture

Museums

• Number of museums in the area
• Number of arts/crafts galleries

Sports

• Number of little league teams
• Organized youth sport activities
• Number of kids on teams
• Number of teams
• Parent participation rate with sports teams

Recreation

• Type of programs available in area
• Number of facilities targeted toward teenagers
• Number of children participating in after school activities
• Number of after school activities
• Number of community facilities
• Number of parks
• Number of parks with playground equipment

Visual and performing arts

• Public and private arts programs
• Art courses in public schools
• Art and performance programs in public schools
• Number and location of public art sites
• Attendance at art events
• Resources available in support of arts
• Relationship between test scores and exposure to art
• Number of arts programs in the schools

History

• Number of historical and culturally significant sites
• Number of officially protected/registered historical sites

Humanities

• Number of art/cultural organizations
• Volunteerism in art and cultural organizations

Diversity

Age

• Percent of different age groups
• Total number of residents

Culture

• Number of ethnic organizations in the area
• Number or types of religious facilities
• Ethnicity of households

Gender

• Percent of population according to gender

Lifestyle

• Number of bars
• Types of bars

National origin

• Percent of population from other nations

Race

• Percent of population according to race

Socioeconomic status

• Different racial populations according to income

People with disabilities

• Noncompliance citations for handicap access

Family Structure

• Number of retired families
• Number of families with four or more people
• Number of single parent homes
• Number of families with dual incomes and no kids

Education

Life-long learning

• Percent admitted to college
• Percent admitted to universities
• Available training after high school
• Adult education enrollment
• Percent population holding higher education degrees

Schools

• Drop out rate
• Literacy rate
• Percent of population with high school diplomas
• Percent private vs. public school enrollment
• Operating expenditures per student
• Parent involvement in schools
• Percent of students attending desegregated schools
• Community support of school
• Transportation mode (walk, bus, bike, parent)
• Type of schools in neighborhood
• Number of home schooled children
• Number of private schooled children
• Number of vouchers
• Number of hours spent with curricular studies
• Number of hours spent with extra curricular studies
• Distance from homes to schools
• Student demographics

Life experiences

• National honor society members
• Number of public educational activities

Quality of learning environment

• Student/teacher ratio
• Portable units in use at the schools
• Public school students testing not ready for 1st grade
• Average teacher salary in the school district
• Number of suspensions from schools
• Population of students at or above grade reading levels
• Number of students without proper text books
• Average achievement test percentile scores
• Number of teachers holding advanced degrees
• Share of schools with high speed internet connections
• Number of students per computer
• Class size

Libraries

• Number of library volumes
• Number of libraries
• Number of books checked out
• Average distance to public library
• Number people carrying library cards

Government

Legislative, executive, judicial boards

• number of elected officials that are non-white/female

Governmental/intergovernmental coordination

• number of intergovernmental committees active in area

Agencies

Public safety

• Number of homicides
• Number of sexual assaults
• Number of non sexual assaults
• Number of child abuse incidents
• Number of robberies
• Calls for service to sheriff's department by local schools
• arrests for drug law violations
• DUI arrests
• Number of solicitation arrests
• Number of halfway house/parole arrests
• Number of halfway houses
• Number of misdemeanors and felony arrests

Planning

• Number of zoning variances awarded
• Number of Developments of Regional Impact projects
• Percent of infill going to business
• Percent of infill going to residential
• Acres of new open/park space set aside/created
• Ratio of various land use types in the area

Code Enforcement

• Number of code violations
• Number of people committing code violations

Tax equity

• Ratio of average property tax vs. county average
• Amount of federal funds received
• Amount of state funding
• Amount of funds received from gas tax

Asset utilization

• Number of post offices
• Operating hours of library
• Number of centers with senior services

Government response

• Citizen perception of government responsiveness

Health

Health care

• Average distance to hospital
• Number of medical establishments

Health insurance

• Percent medically insured children and adults

Wellness

• Infant mortality rate
• Childhood immunization rates
• HIV/AIDS levels
• Coronary heart disease deaths
• Breast cancer deaths
• Deaths from work-related injuries
• Percent low birthweight infants
• Percent of population that is overweight
• Youth and adult smoking prevalence
• Correlation of poverty in the area and at-risk youths
• Prenatal care rate
• Indigenous cases of measles
• Births to teens

Mental health

• Number of people on antidepressants
• Number of people insured for mental healthcare
• Number of clinics for drug and alcohol abuse
• Number of assisted living facilities

Fitness

• Number of people utilizing fitness centers
• Number of fitness centers
• Number hours watching television
• Number of people who exercise actively
• Number of people who exercise passively (walking, etc.)

Nutrition

• Number of health food stores
• Number of fresh food markets
• Number of meals on wheels
• Number of people eating at soup kitchens
• Number of people frequenting food banks
• Number of children receiving free meals at schools

Youth services

• Number of children's after school/sport activities
• Number of children participating in after school activities
• Number of shut-ins
• Number of people dependant on alternate transportation

Social services

• Distance to driver's license center
• Distance to health and social service centers
• Number of social service facilities
• Number of social service homes

Childcare

• Number of childcare facilities
• Average distance from home to childcares facilities
• Average age of children in childcare
• Number of children in childcare
• Number of care-givers/staff per child
• Average cost for childcare

Environment

Air

• Air quality index
• Indoor air quality
• Number of people with asthma/respiratory problems

Land

• Impervious surface area
• Acres of flood plains that are developed
• Ratio of open space to developed land
• Years of remaining landfill space
• Codes/protection of trees
• Preservation areas
• Wildlife corridors
• Number of grand trees
• Amount of open space

Water

• Number of beach closings
• Per capita electricity consumption
• wetland water quality vs. rates of urbanization
• Wetland water level fluctuation vs. rate of urbanization
• Turbidity levels at selected sites
• Ground water quality
• In-stream flows
• Acres of wetland
• Sources of water
• Number of new well and septic permits
• Preservation areas

Energy

• Types of energy sources
• Per capita energy consumption
• Number of homes/businesses using solar energy
• Number of hybrid automobiles in the neighborhood

Wildlife

• Number of restricted fish species
• Amphibian richness vs. wetland water fluctuation
• Audubon bird count
• Number of fish
• Number of vertebrate species
• Amount of roadkill

Ecosystems

• Undisturbed plant biodiversity vs. acres of natural areas
• Number of educational efforts
• Type of ecosystems
• Size of ecosystems

Pollution

• Pesticide usage
• Average fecal coliform bacteria count for stream monitoring stations
• Average total phosphorous count for all stream monitoring stations
• Pounds of solid waste per person
• Amount of streetsweeping material
• Average amount of fertilizer and pesticide utilized

Recycling

• Percent waste that is recycled
• Amount of water reuse/reclamation
• Gray water supply/capacity
• Homes with curbside recycling

Advocacy

• Environmental organizations
• Garden clubs
• School clubs
• Events

Visual/Physical Design

Building design and visual blight

• Building design standards
• Amount of non-compliance to standards
• Number of building codes
• Number of vacant buildings
• Number of code violations
• Existence of community master plan
• Amount of roadways with excessive litter
• Overlay district
• Existence of community master plan

Revitalization Efforts

• Number of restoration projects

Landscaping/Streetscape

• Streetscape maintenance programs
• Signage design standards
• Amount of non-compliance signage
• Streetscape design standards
• Existence of landscaping
• Number of street lights in comparison to county average