In preparation for the release on December 9, FHWA have hosted 2 web
training sessions (Dec 2 and 5) on accessing the ACS data. The materials
were the same on both dates. If you were unable to attend, the session
on Dec 2 was recorded, and is available:
http://fhwa.na3.acrobat.com/p97212507/
The Census Bureau has released a list of the geographic areas for which
data will be released on December 9.
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/users_guide/2005_2007/index.htm
As a quick reminder, the population threshold for releasing tabulations
from the 3-year ACS is 20,000. Approximately 60 percent of counties are
included. This data release does NOT include census tracts or other
"small area" data. The geographic units with complete coverage are
limited to States and PUMAs. That is, tabulations for counties and
places are like "swiss cheese." Even if a county has (for example) a
population of 100,000, some of the cities in that county may have more
than 20,000, and others fall under 20,000 population. Tables for the
county will be issued, but only the cities over the 20,000 threshold
will have data published.
The Census Bureau has shapefiles available:
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/tgrshp2007/tgrshp2007.html
Good luck! And don't forget to share your results with the CTPP
listserv!
Elaine Murakami
FHWA Office of Planning (Wash DC)
206-220-4460 (Seattle)