2000115-Strengthening-Communities-with-Neighborhood-Data

18 Strengthening Communities with Neighborhood Data
CDCs, however, are more likely to have good data on the properties they
own or are acquiring and rehabilitating.
For-profit companies commonly use community information for
business development, including targeting marketing campaigns and
selecting a site for a new store. The routine record keeping of some private
firms can also yield data of value for public purposes. For example,
data on the changing spatial pattern of a firm’s product sales may
indicate shifting demographic and income patterns that could serve as
a basis for community group plans for facility expansion. Some firms
now keep records on the residential addresses of their customers, which
might provide fresh insights to transportation planners. There are many
examples of this sort of application of private data for public purposes
to date, and there could be more in the future.
Other institutions (and their purposes in data use) include philanthropies
(plan and assess grant making); advocacy organizations (make cases
and promote causes); some community-improvement nonprofits (plan
and implement neighborhood initiatives); and research firms and university
institutes (provide research and analysis for a variety of clients).
Coalitions and Governance
So far we have talked about individual local institutions with roles in
producing and using community information. But much of the collective
decisionmaking and action at the local level necessarily involves a
number of these institutions (arguably, an increasing share) working
together. How does this work take place, and who is in a position to
participate? The answer to these questions has a profound effect on the
nature and extent of the demand for community information.
The answer begins by recognizing that the textbook picture of how
collective decisionmaking works in a democracy at the local level is
much oversimplified; that is, the notion that an election is held and the
elected leaders then simply instruct the bureaucracy as needed to run the
government until the next election. In fact, elections are only the starting
point, and a healthy democracy requires that citizens participate actively
in decisionmaking between elections.
How does this work in practice? Political scientists recognize that
the process is one in which many groups with many objectives often
compete for influence. There have been long-standing debates between
those who see decisions being dominated by some type of elite and the