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