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PUBLICATIONS

When possible, these documents are provided in PDF format. Several documents can also be ordered in printed versions through the Urban Institute press.

Project Concept and Overview

Neighborhood Information Systems: We Need a Broader Effort to Build Local Capacity , by G. Thomas Kingsley and Kathryn L.S. Pettit. Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Newsletter. October 2004.

Neighborhood Indicators: Taking Advantage of the New Potential, by G. Thomas Kingsley. Working Paper. Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, October 1998.

Mapping Your Community: Using Geographic Information to Strengthen Community Initiatives, by G. Thomas Kingsley, Claudia J. Coulton, Michael Barndt, David S. Sawicki, and Peter Tatian. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, October 1997.

Building and Operating Neighborhood Indicator Systems.
Guidance on developing capacities to construct and use neighborhood indicator systems, covering both technical and institutional aspects.

Building and Operating Neighborhood Indicator Systems: A Guidebook, edited by G. Thomas Kingsley. National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Report. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, March 1999.

Comprehensive guidebook providing an introduction to basic indicators concepts, explaining who the local NNIP partners are, and suggesting approaches and techniques for building and operating successful local neighborhood indicators systems based on partners' experiences.

Building Community Capacity to Use Information
Tools for organizations that help community residents learn to use information effectively.

Building Community Capacity to Use Information: Four Training Options from the Experience of the National Neigborhood Indicators Partnership, by Terri J. Bailey. National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Report. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, December 2000.

Stories: Using Information in Community Building and Local Policy. National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Report. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, March 1999. Sample stories.

A collection of brief case studies that describe successful uses of neighborhood indicators in three categories: (1) neighborhood-level applications—specific initiatives; (2) neighborhood level applications—organizing and capacity-building; (3) citywide initiatives and policy change.


Building Community Capacity to Use Information: A Framework, by Terri J. Bailey. National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Report. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, October 1997.

Paper by Terri J. Bailey discussing work to be done in four areas: (1) assessing community capacity to use information; (2) strengthening the social and technological communications networks available in a community; (3) training and other means of building skills to use information for community change; and (4) providing technical assistance in support of community use of information.

Building Indicators of Neighborhood Health and Change
Information on the development of indicators and the data sources from which they can be derived.

Catalog of Administrative Data Sources for Neighborhood Indicators, by Claudia J. Coulton. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, January 2008.

NNIP Data Inventory 2007: A Picture of Local Data Collection Across the Country, by Elizabeth H. Guernsey and Kathryn L. S. Pettit. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, December 2007.

School Readiness Research Guide and Toolkit: Using Neighborhood Data to Spur Action, by Charlie Bruner and Amy Pettine. Co-sponsored by NNIP and the State Early Childhood Policy Technical Assistance Network. September 2007.

Indispensable Information: Data Collection and Information Management for Healthier Communities by Peter Tatian, part of the Accelerating Community Transformation Learning Module series. National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Report. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, March 2000. Copy in Word 97 format.

DataPlace Guide Series: Guide to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data, by Kathryn L.S. Pettit and Audrey E. Droesch. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, December 2007.

Public Assistance Records: A Source for Neighborhood Indicators, by Claudia J. Coulton. National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Report. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, September 1999.

This second guide, also written by Claudia J. Coulton, covers indicators that can be derived from records on public assistance.

 
Vital Records: A Source for Neighborhood Indicators, by Claudia J. Coulton. National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Report. Cleveland, Ohio: Center on Urban Poverty and Social Change, Case Western Reserve University, March 1999.

The guide shows how a range of indicators can be developed from specific data sources identified in the catalog and offering advice on their use. This one, written by Claudia J. Coulton, covers indicators that can be derived from records on local births and deaths.



Cross-Site Analyses

Trends in Maternal and Infant Health in Poor Urban Neighborhoods: Good News from the 1990s, but Challenges Remain, by Embry Howell, Kathryn L.S. Pettit, G. Thomas Kingsley. Public Health Reports. July/August 2005. 120: 409-417.

Neighborhoods and Health: Building Evidence for Local Policy, by Kathryn L.S. Pettit, G. Thomas Kingsley, and Claudia J. Coulton. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, May 2003.

Exploring Welfare-to-Work Challenges in Five Metropolitan Regions, by Margery Austin Turner, Mark Rubin, and Michelle DeLair. National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Report. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, June 1999.

An examination of the characteristics and spatial patterns of welfare recipiency and entry-level job openings in the metropolitan regions of five of our NNIP partners. Includes discussion of contrasts in patterns and their implications for local policy.

Text of paper (PDF format)  |  Maps for paper (JPEG format)


Articles and Other External Publications

"Neighborhood Indicators: A Tool for Changing Communities and Improving Lives," by Frances Stanley. Entrance to Opportunity. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Issue One, 2004, 28-32.

"Using the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership to Improve Public Health," by Embry H. Howell, Kathryn L.S. Pettit, Barbara A. Ormond, and G. Thomas Kingsley. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. Volume 9, No. 3, May-June 2003, 235-242.

"The Information Revolution," by G. Thomas Kingsley. Community—A Journal of Community Building for Community Leaders. 1 (1): Fall 1998.

"Neighborhood Indicators and Community Initiatives," by G. Thomas Kingsley. The Evaluation Exchange: Emerging Strategies in Evaluating Child and Family Services. Harvard Family Research Project. Volume III, No. 3/4, 1997, 9-10.

The Urban Institute

For additional information, e-mail NNIP at nnip@ui.urban.org.