Post PL94-171 reflections:

I thought I’d share a few observations now that PL 94-171 data for my state (Arkansas) has been released.

1. Don’t count on the Census Bureau to keep you up to date. I got on their e-mail list to receive notification the minute the new census figures were released for my state. No luck. We were all stranded at home (snow day – 8 inches of pretty powder, daytime high 25, a major event in Arkansas) when my boss called me from his home to say the press was calling asking for feedback about the census figures. Moral of the story: check FactFinder2 for your state on an hourly basis the week your state is due. Our figures have been out for 24 hours now and they still haven’t let me know, although I did get a pointless e-mail yesterday afternoon about the 2009 ACS.

2. FactFinder2 is shaky, but not entirely useless. I managed to get all the really vital stuff down – population by race for cities (including CDPs) and counties in our region. Using FF2, however, was a bit like playing “Space Invaders.” (I’m showing my age here) There were times when I zapped the aliens and got my data, and other times when the data search blew up in my face, with a curious “dead end” situation where it was entirely locked up and the only way to continue my search was to quit my session and start over from scratch (and I mean all the way – getting out of FF2 and back in wasn’t enough; I had to end my Firefox session and start over). The moral of the story: just keep trying, FF2 can’t stop you if you’re determined enough.

3. The Map Widget from the Census 2010 web site. In case you didn’t know, you can download a cute little census 2010 widget, customized to your state, from the Census 2010 web site. But it won’t give you notification either. The map widget didn’t show Arkansas population by county yesterday afternoon, although it’s finally showing it this morning. If you haven’t already done so, you can get the map widget here: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/

I recommend playing with FactFinder2 as much as you can in advance, but it’s a strange product, with all kinds of redundancies that are probably designed to make it user-friendly, but in reality add to a new user’s confusion. I found trial-and-error more useful for my emergency than trying to learn it methodically – there just wasn’t time, plus it’s pretty counter-intuitive. If you can get training from your SDC or regional census office, that sounds like a great idea. I could say more about FF2, but such honesty wouldn’t be appropriate here.

Jonathan Lupton AICP

Research Planner

Metroplan

Little Rock AR 72201

501-372-3300