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i„mpri'� �:..�:. �.� i hL•orriiu, u•,i �f!r:_ C� auciiii � Dc��Lnt 4. Indicators of Decline 4.1. Neighbourhood indicators Neighbourhood indicators provide evidence of conditions or problems, offer a glimpse of a larger situation and help measure change over time. They also help evaluate whether revitaliza[ion actions are having the effects desired. Indicators can be used by a wide variety of people — community groups, researchers, public officials, or private sector organisations. A neighbourhood can use indicators to help determine what conditions exist and whether the direction the neighbourhood is headed is consistent with community goals. Indicators can allow a group to hold itself, its public officials, its funders and supporting institutions accountable to neighbourhood goals. Finally, indicators can also be used as a reporting tool that can assist in consensus building for an action strategy (The Urban Ecology Coalition 1999). To address community needs, a broad range of information on conditions and trends over time is used. It is important to get "early warnings" of trends that might indicate the emergence of new problems or the opening up of new opportunities. To evaluate local conditions, design interventions, and engage in informed dialogues concerning these issues, systems of key indicators are used to measure some social, health, economic, or other characteristic of neighbourhoods. Indicators can serve different functions in different contexts. Some indicators can raise awareness of a problem or issue, while others provide information that is more useful for developing a solution to the problem (Tatian 2000). Indicators are distinguishable from other data. First, they are measures intentionally selected for tracking because they relate to importan[ societal values and goals. Second, indicators must be expressed in a consistent form that pertnits comparison over time and, normally, between places. For making comparisons, indicators are of[en expressed as ratios, rates, or percentages rather than as absolute numbers (ibid.). Neighbourhood indicators may be qualitative or quantitative. Effective planning and action require both types of informa[ion. Quantitative data (numerical information) is commonly available, while reliable qualitative data is often in short supply. Acquiring the data on different issues (health, housing, economics, etc.), at different levels of geography (county, city, and neighbourhood), and for different periods of time can be a difficult task. There are many sources of existing data that can be used for a variety of purposes. Statistics Canada and other federal govemment agencies collect extensive data on the Canadian population and the economy that are made available to the public. Much of this data is now available on CD-ROM or can be downloaded from the Intemet. Local and provincial govemments also collect a lot of data, although much of this may no[ normally be made available to the general public (for example, information on welfare clients) and it is not always collected on a regular basis and in a systematic and comparable fashion. Community organizations also collect data but it suffers from the same problem as local and provincial governments. These problems at the community level are generally even more severe. A number of private sources of data also can be usefuL There are several companies, for instance, that sell electronic business ,.. ..� 27