Various Transportation Links Impacted Socio-Economic Development

Various Transportation Links Impacted Socio-Economic Development

Instructions/Descriptions

Various Transportation Links Impacted Socio-Economic Development

Community Profile Project

option A: Choose a geographic area or neighborhood with a population of less than 30,000 people. The neighborhood will be Southie Boston, Ma. read about this community using historical material that links to the present context, current information (community profiles, reports, monographs, municipal government documents, etc.), and news media articles (e.g., local newspapers, magazines, newsletters, city-wide or regional newspapers, websites, etc.). You also can view videos, films, television news reports, cable TV access coverage of public meetings (e.g., city council, school committee, zoning board, etc.).

Additionally, spend at least one hour walking around this community making observations and engaging in conversations. Challenge yourself to talk with shopkeepers, people sitting on their steps, that group of young people hanging out on the corner or a playground, folks playing dominoes on the plaza, seniors in a local park; eat in a local restaurant; buy something at a neighborhood store; wash your clothes and chat with folks in a laundromat; go to a church supper or bingo; volunteer at a soup kitchen or food pantry, etc.

Once you’ve gathered a sufficient amount of information and impressions about the community being studied, start writing! I suggest that you start with a 2-3 page (double-spaced) introductory overview of this community, including:

Boundaries: see the short Week 2 discussion about “Turf” for helpful ideas. Is there broad consensus about the boundaries or do different segments of the community tend to have divergent views?

Population: how many people live in this geographic area? If you are doing Option B, add the estimated population of the community of shared identity.

History: again, the information provided in the Week 2 “Turf” discussion provides guidance. Discuss the historical phenomena and events that have had the greatest impact on the current socio-economic, political, and cultural context. Please avoid historical minutia facts.

Transportation Links: see Week 2: “Turf.” How have various transportation links impacted socio-economic development?

Community Image: what kinds of stories about this community are in the media? What is the content and tone of the media coverage? Do most stories tend to portray the community in a positive light or is coverage often negative and stereotypical? Whose voice is being used to tell the story? Whose voice is not heard?

Observations: synthesize your impressions and any information obtained during conversations when you spent time walking around the community. Incorporate these initial “snapshot” observations into several paragraphs in your paper. Using the U.S. Census and other data sets, provide a demographic profile of the geographic community.

Please note that you typically will NOT find U.S. Census data at the neighborhood level (ex. West End of Atlanta, Fort Greene, Hermosa, Fields Corner, Lower Ninth Ward, Tenderloin, etc.), because the data is not collected or presented at that level. Instead, utilize data gathered from one Census tract that lies within your geographic area.

The U.S. Bureau of Census established tracts (2500 – 8000 inhabitants) in order to analyze populations over time (data is collected every 10 years).

Typically, these tracts are “… relatively homogeneous units with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions” (U.S. Census Bureau). It also is acceptable to utilize Census data from a zip code (which almost always encompasses a larger area than a tract); however, tract level data usually is a more manageable unit when conducting your comparative demographic analysis.

Choose a tract that is representative of the larger geographic area under study. All data should be presented as a percentage, rather than as a raw number (e.g., “poverty rate is 15%”, not “there are 632 people living below the poverty level”).

our profile should incorporate a comparative demographic analysis with the state, the county, the entire municipality, or another neighborhood in the same municipality. Try to compare a geographic unit of analysis that contrasts with the community you have selected. This will help you to highlight and lift up some of the most salient elements of the area you are studying. I recommend that you don’t use national data for comparative purposes, since there often is so much variation between local data sets and statistics for the entire country. Where there are important differences (e.g., poverty rate is 30% in your community and 12% statewide, countywide, or citywide), you should have a fuller discussion in your paper.

On items where there is little difference (e.g., median age varies by only 2 years), you can simply point out that this area seems typical of the rest of the state, county or city. Juxtaposing two very different neighborhoods in the same municipality sometimes will be more useful than comparing city-wide, countywide, or statewide data. The unit of comparison is up to you, but the goal is to help you make the case about the elements that characterize your community and capture its essence.The accuracy of U.S. Census data can vary dramatically. It is well documented that low-income populations in inner cities and some very rural areas often are undercounted. This phenomenon may increase due to language differences, distrust of the Census process, homelessness, immigration status, transiency, student status, doubled up housing, and multi-family households due to under-housing. Also, many newcomer populations may have begun arriving in significant numbers after the most recent U.S. Census count (it’s only done at ten-year intervals and last was collected in 2010). You are encouraged to provide supplemental data whenever these accuracy problems seem to be acute. Alternative demographic sources include City-Data and school district reports. Data should be obtained from U.S. Census regarding:

Race

Ethnicity

Age

Family composition

Female-headed households

Education

Occupation

Income

Poverty rate

Public assistance

Housing patterns (i.e., the percentages of homeowners and tenants)

You also should include the following information, which is not in the U.S. Census. Please use other sources to obtain the following:

Housing costs (buying a home & renting a 3-bedroom apartment)

Unemployment rate (doesn’t have to be at the neighborhood level—city-wide or town-wide rate is OK)

Voting patterns (political party affiliations, as well as voting turnout and outcomes in recent elections—again, city-wide or town-wide data is OK.) Please describe the municipal government as discussed in Lecture 2 (see “Institutions”) and identify elected officials and their political party (municipal officials may not declare their party) who represent the geographic area you are studying as follows:

U.S. Senators for your state

U.S. Congressional representative for the district that includes your community

Governor of your state

Person (s) representing your community in the state senate

Person (s) representing your community in the state legislature

Person(s) representing your community in the municipal government (e.g., city/town council, alder board, etc.)

Please identify and describe the media outlets that serve this community (newspapers, radio, television) as discussed in Lecture 2 (see “Institutions”)

See the following link for more information about Forms of Municipal Government: NLC Forms of Municipal Government.For specific information about your community, check the official city/town website. Other information may be available through the local health department, city/town meeting notes, the school department, local newspapers, and various online announcements. Please interview (and document in your paper) at least two people who have knowledge about this community and incorporate their perspectives into this paper.

Good subjects for interviews might include: grassroots community leaders, clergy, local newspaper reporters, store owners, long-term residents, school teachers, human services and community workers, elected officials, and/or their staff. You do not have to identify these individuals by name. In the body of your paper, when quoting or paraphrasing material from an interview, simply follow these APA guidelines: Please describe and discuss the following, using the guidelines provided in Lecture 2:

Large employers (including sectors if relevant)

Public schools

Universities (if relevant)

Healthcare facilities

Religious organizations

Public housing developments (if present in the community)

Business organizations

Banks

Human services agencies

Possible nontraditional settings (positive identification not required)

community-based organizations (neighborhood, racial, ethnic, identity, shared experience, issue, political, social/cultural/recreational)

Key individuals (formal and informal). Note: Students sometimes overlook this component. Simply identifying elected officials (see above) is not sufficient. Please follow the guidelines provided in Lecture Material for Week 2 – “5. Key Individuals and ‘Actors'”.

Community challenges and opportunities, including problems, issues, and assets. (You should not do an in-depth analysis at this point. Simply identify them briefly). You are required to include an Appendix with this paper. Appendix material should include:

A two- to three-sentence description of each of your interviewees. The description might include race, ethnicity, gender, age (all as best you can estimate), and other relevant information (e.g., homeowner/tenant, long-time resident/newcomer, occupation, position/role in the community, whether they have a stake in a particular community issue, etc.). Again, full name is optional.

An Assets Map and List of Assets. Refer to the article you read in Week 2 by McKnight and Kretzmann (“Mapping Community Capacity”). Please identify the assets in the community you are studying and make a simple list and map identifying each of the three types of “Building Blocks” described by the authors. Include physical assets, organizational resources, and nontraditional settings (if possible). Note: You may find some assets that do not fit neatly into just one of McKnight and Kretzmann’s categories. If so, please indicate the elements that have led you to choose a particular category.
You are welcome to use the option below or any other avenue for attaching a map in the appendix. You do not have to map every single asset, but the idea is to demonstrate where assets and resources are located and you can tie that in to your narrative about access, divisions, etc. Here are the steps to creating the map:

Open Google My Maps

Click on “Create a New Map”

Enter the town/city and state where your community can be found

Click on “draw a line” (middle icon towards top of screen) to create borders

select “add a line”

zoom in (bottom right-hand corner, clicking on +) to find your community

click on a starting place for border and keep clicking on the next space where you’d like to connect the lines once the border is complete (and last line touches point of starting line), save and name the community

Click “add marker” to drop pins. You can name the marker and click on “style” to color code by type or other category. Once complete, you can use print screen to copy and paste into your Word document. Please refer to this quick video on how to do that.

Provide other supplemental material relevant to the institutions, agencies/organizations, individuals, problems, and issues discussed in your paper, including maps, demographic data, news clippings, photos, and background material.

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