DIVE INTO DATA WITH SOMERVILLE’S NEW OPEN SOURCE WEBSITE

SOMERVILLE

- Did you know that Somerville's birth rate surpassed Massachusetts' falling

rate a few years back? Or that the city has had a lower unemployment rate than

the state and the nation since 2000? You can delve into this data and more with

the City of Somerville's new open source website, Key System Indicators

at somervillema.gov/dashboard,

which includes data on living, working, playing and raising a family in

Somerville.

That

data includes everything from property values and city revenues, to the results

of the city's Happiness Survey and the number of temporary food permits

approved each year. And for the first time, the City provides maps of property

values and crime in Somerville. An example of the City's

commitment to openness and transparency, the website makes this data available

to everyone through an easy to browse and view format, which was developed at

no cost beyond staff time by the City.

"Not only does tracking data and making it publicly

available allow the public to hold us accountable for our performance, it makes

it easier for people outside of City Hall to get involved in the

decision-making process and come up with creative solutions," said Mayor Joseph

A. Curtatone. "Open data lets us make decisions that might not be obvious at

first, but once you delve into the numbers, the answer is staring right back at

us.  "With the data out there available

to anyone who wants to dive in, residents can also approach the City with

counterintuitive proposals. Whether the idea comes from City officials or the

public, open data often leads us to conclusions we wouldn't intuitively know outright."

Some more facts that stand out from the data include:

• Somerville
  
  has one of the highest concentrations of transit commuters in the country.

• Somerville
  
  has the sixth highest concentration of same-sex couples among cities in the
  
  nation.

• Residents
  
  rank their satisfaction with community events the highest and the cost of
  
  housing lowest.

• Neighborhood
  
  satisfaction is highest in Davis Square and the Ward 2 area near Union Square.

• Burglaries
  
  are most common in East Somerville near lower Broadway and along the Cambridge
  
  border near the end of Beacon Street.

• Crime
  
  is down significantly across all categories, dropping by roughly one-third
  
  since 2008.

The Key Systems Indicators website was built using open

source tools for free by City staff, saving taxpayers the cost of website

development while sharing more information and data in a clear, transparent way

out to the public. The website's code is available for free for anyone including

other cities and towns to copy and use on GitHub at github.com/DanielHadley/SomervilleSystems.

"Getting data out to the public in a clear way that's easy

to grasp makes everyone in Somerville better informed citizens and neighbors,"

said SomerStat Director Daniel Hadley. "As outside resources dwindle and we

have to do more with less, open data is an equalizer. It puts smaller cities

and towns, which might not have as many resources as larger cities, in a

position to crowd source some of their analysis and programming. That in turn can

help municipalities find ways to be leaner, more efficient and deliver the

services that residents deserve."

The

Key Systems Indicator website is the latest in the City of Somerville's efforts

to make data and information open and transparent. The City previously shared

information through a Socrata-powered Open Data Portal and brings City data to

residents at regular ResiStat meetings held twice a year in each ward. Regular

posts on the latest findings made with City data can also be found on Somerville's

ResiStat Blog at somervilleresistat.blogspot.com.