Community Indicators Project Now Complete

In my January blog, I wrote about a 2012 update to the Tuolumne County Profile – Community Indicators Project. I am pleased to announce that the update is now complete and available to the public.

The Community Indicators Project was originally completed in 2005, and received its first update in 2008. As stated on the project’s website, “The goal of this project is to inform, inspire, and even provoke. This is achieved by presenting sound, unbiased information. We are inviting the community to immerse themselves in this information, talk about it, and use it to make our county an even better place to live, work and visit.”

This year, the Foundation partnered with the Center for Economic Development at California State University, Chico. The Center has previously completed numerous economic and demographic profiles throughout the state.

The project report tracks indicator data for the past 10 years, and provides an excellent point of view of how various demographic, environmental, economic, social and industrial indicators entered the Great Recession, and their performance since then.

For example, the demographic indicators reveal a significant loss of population from the 5 – 17 and 40 – 54 age groups during the ten year period from 2000 – 2010. One conclusion may be that losses in these groups mean the loss of families from the County due to reduced family income, following employment opportunities, foreclosure, or other factors that surfaced during the Great Recession.

Another interesting example, as we enter into the election season, can be found in the voter registration and participation indicator. While there have been losses in voters registered to the Republican and Democrat parties, there have been noticeable gains to the “independent” and “decline to state” categories. This could be an important factor when considering strategies for local or state partisan office elections.

The Community Indicators Project is currently available as a printed document; on a credit card sized document storage device that you can plug into a computer’s USB port; or by viewing online at www.tuolumnecountyprofile.org.

If you would like to know more about the Tuolumne County Profile 2012 – Community Indicators Project, do not hesitate to stop by the office, give me a call at 533-2596, or drop me an e-mail at edwyllie@sonora-area.org.