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.