[CTPP] Small-area socioeconomic data sources, synthesis techniques

A few questions for anyone who'd care to offer opinions... Who on the list has experience "synthesizing" small-area (= TAZ Zones or Tracts or Block Groups) socioeconomic crosstabs that go beyond the tables published by Census Bureau? By "beyond," I'm specifically thinking of using multiple households characteristics as segmenting dimensions. And how do you go about it? Iterative proportional fitting - or propensity? or some other joint distribution technique?? About my own objectives: For analyses and forecasts-prep at Metropolitan Council, we would like to segment our region's Census 2000 households on multiple dimensions: age of householder (4 categories) X household size (4 categories) X household income (5 categories) X geographic units (1200 Zones). I've been thinking that we would start with CTPP table 64 (crosstab of household size X household income X TAZ Zones) and then synthesize the additional segmentation by age group (drawing on PUMS data). But I'm skeptical that household size X household income is enough information to predict age of householder. Any thoughts?? Alternately... Census SF3 table P55 offers crosstab of age group X household income X Block Groups. Perhaps start there and synthesize the additional segmentation by household size. This might work better! - but then there's the additional hassle of correspondence between Block Groups vs TAZ Zones. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks. -- Todd Graham Metropolitan Council Research 651/602-1322