2000115-Strengthening-Communities-with-Neighborhood-Data

208 Strengthening Communities with Neighborhood Data
concerns about the completeness of the data. Some data providers did
not see the importance or value of making these data available, nor
was doing so a priority. In other instances there were actual or perceived
technical issues in transferring data from one format to another.
Although the VAPAC meetings could get uncomfortable at times, all
parties involved were committed to and focused on developing strategies
to stabilize Cleveland’s neighborhoods—and data were essential to that
effort.
Fast-forward to 2010 and the launch of the Neighborhood Stabilization
Team (NST) web app, a component of NEO CANDO, which contains
regularly updated property-related data for Cleveland and allows
the user to filter the data based on geography or other characteristics,
download the data, and map them. Included in this system are the very
sources of data discussed in VAPAC meetings from years ago, such as
code violations, permits, condemnations, and demolitions. Since 2010,
these data have been made available weekly by the City of Cleveland
(Hirsh, Schramm, and Coulton 2012). Access to these city data sources
is limited to select users such as CDCs and municipal governments, but
other parcel-level data such as sales transfers, foreclosure filings, and
sheriff’s sales, which were previously available only monthly or annually,
are now available weekly through the publicly accessible NEO CANDO.
Through the determination and commitment of those individuals sitting
around the table at those early VAPAC meetings, crucial and timely
data about the status of properties are now available and accessible to
those seeking to bring about change in their neighborhoods.
Neighborhood Stabilization Team and
Neighborhood Stabilization Program
The SII project team was at the forefront of using parcel-level data to
take action in Cleveland neighborhoods. They began meeting monthly
in 2005 to identify properties for possible acquisition in the six neighborhoods
where these targeted investments were being made. Staff from
NPI, the neighborhood’s community development organizations, NEO
CANDO, and Cleveland State University’s Marshall College of Law would
sit in a room with a large map of an SII area. A detailed legend explained
the map’s colors, symbols, and patterns, which depicted various attributes
(including condition, vacancy status, and tax delinquency status)