Thursday, September 27, 2007

GTC East Wednesday (9/26) Summary of the Day

From the Government Technology conference in Albany, NY:

"David Pogue, New York Times personal technology columnist, CBS News tech correspondent and best-selling author opened GTC East with an energetic keynote. Pogue explained the five technology trends he believes will most influence the future. They include services on how Web 2.0 delivers on the promise of personalization and technologies that find you and help you where you are.

In the afternoon general session, Ron Crouch, Director of the State Data Center at the University of Louisville, gave an eye-opening interpretation of the census trends and what these trends mean for New York, and for state and local governments. He debuted an analysis of new 2006 data that shows New York's increasing reliance on foreign born workers with advanced degrees and the state's increasing inability to retain young workers that were born and educated in New York.

Best and Worst Test Markets

"Acxiom has leveraged the accuracy of Personicx® LifeStages to find those markets that most closely resemble a microcosm of the US."
3 NEWBURGH NY-PA
8 ROCHESTER NY
19 ALBANY-SCHENECTADY-TROY NY
20 DUTCHESS COUNTY NY
55 SYRACUSE NY
171 BUFFALO-NIAGARA FALLS NY
The NYC metro wasn't listed; nor were the smaller New York locales, such as Binghamton and Elmira.
"If it plays in Peoria, it’ll play anywhere."
71 PEORIA-PEKIN IL

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Damn, This Traffic Jam

It's very likely you've heard about Americans spending more time stuck in traffic. But who put out the report? It was the Texas Transportation Institute, often referred in reports (erroneously, as far as I can tell), as the Texas Traffic Institute. It's affiliated with Texas A&M University. You can access the full 138-page PDF from the page.

I wonder, though: is all that lost time really "lost"? Are people on buses reading or working with their laptops? Are drivers easting and putting on makeup? Curious minds want to know.

Anyway, the lyrics alluded to in the title are found here.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The Corporate Leavers Survey

"..each year in this country, more than 2 million professionals and managers in today’s increasingly diverse workforce leave their jobs, pushed out by cumulative small comments, whispered jokes and not-so-funny emails. This rigorous study, the first large scale review of this issue, shows that unfairness costs U.S. employers $64 billion on an annual basis."

Interesting issue. But I've been wondering, and not for the first, how DO they calculate these things?

Monday, September 24, 2007

Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council Newsletter

The Fall 2007 Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Review – Newsletter of the G/FLRPC has come out, featuring:
· Tracking Our Changing Region: The Regional Land Use Monitoring Report
· Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) Program Update
· The Village of Pike Progresses with its Dissolution Study
· A Land Use Strategy for Our Region’s Steep Slopes
· Watershed Plans: Protecting and Restoring Water Quality: A new guide by the Department of State and Department of Environmental Conservation
· Ontario-Wayne MS4 Update
· G/FLRPC Holds Annual Meeting
· A Sense of Place
· Planning Leads to Results
· G/FLRPC Recent Publications

I've created a new section for newsletters, and the G/FLRPC newsletter is the inaugural item. If any of the affiliates want to suggest other newsletters, please leave suggestions in the comment section.

I'm still looking for more affiliate links and, of course, affiliate contributions.

Friday, September 21, 2007

State and Local Government Statistics at a Crossroads

On the 50th anniversary of the first quinquennial Census of Governments, a National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council panel on research and development priorities for the Census Bureau’s State and Local Government Statistics Program has issued a report that recommends improvements in timeliness, efficiency, relevance, and quality of census data on states and localities. These data are of broad national interest and importance, contributing to understanding of both the U.S. economy and the role that states and local entities play in American federalism. The panel is chaired by Richard P. Nathan, co-director of the Rockefeller Institute.
A set of charts highlighting the work, findings, and recommendations of the panel is available, along with the prepublication text of the panel report. This version of the report will be formally published in hard copy in late October with editorial changes that will not affect the panel’s findings and recommendations. For more information, go to www.rockinst.org.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Publishing House Research - Resource Guide

Here are links of resources for publishers of books, periodicals or both. I looked at just the book sources, and the best source of free statistics off this page is the Association of American Publishers; however, for the best narrative info, try Publishers Weekly, which is an interesting read even if you're just a fan of books.

I recommend this site, despite parts of the larger website needing some loving. The blog hasn't been updated since December 2006, and there's an interview from July 2006.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

State Library

Now that all residents of the state can get one, I hope you all have a state library card. If you're a state employee, it's even more advantageous, but even the resident card has its database privileges. But even without the card, the NYSL page has some beneficial features such as the New York State Agency Databases, where I discovered a lawyer friend of mine is delinquent in his registration, and Internet bibliographies, including Business, Disability Resources, Health and Medicine, Hispanic and Latino Resources, Newspapers, and Standards and Specifications.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Directory of Licensed Farm Product Dealers

The link is to a current listing of all farm product dealers who are licensed by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. This list is updated weekly. For daily updates, please call 1-800-554-4501. Producers should verify a dealer is licensed before making delivery of farm products.

Times to End Charges on Web Site

The New York Times will stop charging for access to parts of its Web site, effective at midnight tonight.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Hispanic Heritage Month, 2007: Sept. 15-Oct. 15, Part 2

Businesses

Source for statements in this section: Hispanic-owned Firms: 2002.

1.6 million
The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in 2002.

Triple
The rate of growth of Hispanic-owned businesses between 1997 and 2002 (31 percent) compared with the national average (10 percent) for all businesses.

$222 billion
Revenue generated by Hispanic-owned businesses in 2002, up 19 percent from 1997.

45%
. . . of all Hispanic-owned firms were owned by Mexicans, Mexican-Americans and Chicanos.

29,168
Number of Hispanic-owned firms with receipts of $1 million or more.

•43 percent of Hispanic-owned firms operated in construction; administrative and support, and waste management and remediation services; and other services, such as personal services, and repair and maintenance. Retail and wholesale trade accounted for 36 percent of Hispanic-owned business revenue.

•States with the fastest rates of growth for Hispanic-owned firms between 1997 and 2002 included New York (57 percent), Georgia and Rhode Island (56 percent each), and Nevada and South Carolina (48 percent each).

•Counties with the highest number of Hispanic-owned firms were Los Angeles County (188,422); Miami-Dade County (163,187); and Harris County, Texas (61,934).

Spanish Language

32.2 million
The number of U.S. household residents 5 and older who speak Spanish at home.
Spanish speakers constitute nearly one in eight U.S. household residents. Among
all those who speak Spanish at home, more than one-half say they speak English very well. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

29%
Percentage of Texas residents who speak Spanish at home, which leads all states. This compares with the national average of 12 percent. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

78%
Percentage of Hispanics 5 and older who speak a language other than English at home. Of that number, about half speak English very well. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance

$35,967
The median income of Hispanic households in 2005, statistically unchanged from the previous year. (Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005.)

21.8%
The poverty rate among Hispanics in 2005, statistically unchanged from 2004. (Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005).

32.7%
The percentage of Hispanics who lacked health insurance in 2005, statistically unchanged from 2004. (Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005).

Education

59%
The percentage of Hispanics 25 and older who had at least a high school education in 2006.

12%
The percentage of the Hispanic population 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2006.

3.1 million
The number of Hispanics 18 and older who had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2006, up from 1.4 million a decade earlier.

839,000
Number of Hispanics 25 and older with advanced degrees in 2006 (e.g., master’s, professional, doctorate).

11%
Percentage of all college students in October 2005 who were Hispanic. Among elementary and high school students combined, the corresponding proportion was 19 percent.
Educational attainment levels are higher among certain Hispanic groups than among others. For example, among Cubans 25 and older, 73 percent were at least high school graduates, and 24 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Jobs

68%
Percentage of Hispanics 16 and older who are in the civilian labor force. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

17%
The percentage of Hispanics 16 or older who work in management, professional and related occupations. Approximately 24 percent of Hispanics 16 or older work in service occupations; 22 percent in sales and office occupations; 2 percent in farming, fishing and forestry occupations; 16 percent in construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations; and 19 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

77,700
Number of Hispanic chief executives. In addition, 49,200 physicians and surgeons; 53,700 postsecondary teachers; 29,000 lawyers; and 3,300 news analysts, reporters and correspondents are Hispanic. (Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008)

Voting

7.6 million
The number of Hispanic citizens who reported voting in the 2004 presidential election. The percentage of Hispanic citizens voting — about 47 percent — did not change statistically from four years earlier. (Source: Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2004.)

Serving our Country

1.1 million
The number of Hispanic veterans of the U.S. armed forces. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Hispanic Heritage Month 2007: Sept. 15 – Oct. 15

In September 1968, Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to proclaim National Hispanic Heritage Week, which was observed during the week including Sept. 15 and Sept. 16. The observance was expanded in 1988 to a month-long celebration (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15). America celebrates the culture and traditions of U.S. residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Sept. 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on Sept. 16 and Sept. 18, respectively.

Population

44.3 million
The estimated Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2006, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority. Hispanics constituted 15 percent of the nation’s total population. (This estimate does not include the 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico.) here and here.

About 1
. . . of every two people added to the nation’s population between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006, was Hispanic. There were 1.4 million Hispanics added to the population over the period.

3.4%
Percentage increase in the Hispanic population between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006, making Hispanics the fastest-growing minority group.

102.6 million
The projected Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2050. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 24 percent of the nation’s total population by that date.

22.4 million
The nation’s Hispanic population during the 1990 census -- just slightly over half the current total.

3rd
Ranking of the size of the U.S. Hispanic population worldwide, as of 2005. Only Mexico (106.2 million) and Colombia (43 million) had larger Hispanic populations than did the United States (42.7 million). (Spain had a population of 40.3 million.)

64%
The percentage of Hispanic-origin people in households who are of Mexican background. Another 9 percent are of Puerto Rican background, with 3.5 percent Cuban, 3 percent Salvadoran and 2.7 percent Dominican. The remainder are of some other Central American, South American or other Hispanic or Latino origin. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

Roughly half of the nation’s Dominicans live in New York City and about half of the nation’s Cubans in Miami-Dade County, Fla. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

27.4 years
Median age of the Hispanic population in 2006. This compares with 36.4 years for the population as a whole.

107
Number of Hispanic males in 2006 per every 100 Hispanic females. This was in sharp contrast to the overall population, which had 97 males per every 100 females.

States and Counties

48%
The percentage of the Hispanic-origin population that lives in California or Texas. California is home to 13.1 million Hispanics, and Texas is home to 8.4 million.

15
The number of states with at least a half million Hispanic residents. They are Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.

44%
The percentage of New Mexico’s population that is Hispanic, the highest of any state. Hispanics also make up more than a quarter of the population in California and Texas, at 36 percent each, and Arizona (29 percent).

4.7 million
The Hispanic population of Los Angeles County, Calif. the largest of any county in the nation.

305,000
The increase in Texas’ Hispanic population between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006, which led all states. California (283,000), Florida (161,000) and Arizona (102,000) also recorded large increases.

22
Number of states in which Hispanics are the largest minority group. These states are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.

Families and Children

9.9 million
The number of Hispanic family households in the United States in 2006. Of these households, 62 percent included children younger than 18.

67%
The percentage of Hispanic family households consisting of a married couple.

44%
The percentage of Hispanic family households consisting of a married couple with children younger than 18.

66%
Percentage of Hispanic children living with two married parents.

23%
Percentage of total population younger than 5 that was Hispanic as of July 1, 2006.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Finding Our Religion

As I've mentioned in the past, much to data gathers' chagrin, religious data cannot be gathered by the US Census. Here are data sources from my work post; someone named Nancy Oliver was very helpful in this regard.

My favorite fact from this process: the majority of Arab-Americans are Christian, not Muslim.

Monday, September 10, 2007

The Baby Name Wizard

David Brooks had a column, syndicated by the New York Times in August, titled "Dropping old names for new". In it he commended Laura Wattenberg's "obsession with names...and has transformed it into a window on American society, the Baby Name Wizard. He specifically extolled the blog for trends in baby names. If you have Java script, definitely check out the NameVoyager, which is not only interesting but visually cool.

Of course, the Social Security Popular Baby Names section is useful as well. In fact, I had so much fun with it that I had to blog about it earlier this year.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

New York State Highway Bridge Data

New York State is home to more than 17,000 highway bridges, about 44 percent of them owned by the State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), roughly 50 percent owned by municipalities, and the rest owned by state and local authorities (such as the State Thruway Authority), commissions (such as the Capital District State Park Commission), and railroads (such as CSX Corporation, Inc.).

According to a news report, "DOT Commissioner Astrid Glynn said the department plans to make the site more user-friendly in coming months."

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

United Nations Databases

Censuses throughout the World. Of particular interest to me, ethnocultural characteristics, which includes the questions asked by various countries.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Industry and Company Ratios website

This is a common question for our clients going into business.

The roster is specific to the title access on the campus of origin, but seems fairly useful.

Monday, September 3, 2007