Gather and analyze secondary data about the neighbourhood
Gather census data and data from other large-scale surveys (such as the Transportation Tomorrow survey in Ontario). Some useful pieces of census data include: age, income, household size, language, home ownership rates, housing types, dwelling repair statistics, mobility information (e.g. vehicle ownership rates, mode share rates) or other demographic or social trends that you are interested in learning about. You can look at this data for your city as a whole, and then break it down to neighbourhood-scale using census tracts or dissemination areas to compare trends in the neighbourhood relative to the city as a whole.
The participatory engagement tools we use paint a unique and locally grounded picture of the neighbourhood. However, smaller community-led projects don’t have the capactiy to undertake robust demographic research. Using secondary data sources, like the census, can help add a layer of understanding to the neighbourhood portrait.
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Review some of the portrait documents from our pilot projects for ideas about how to visually display census data. See the in the field page to access portraits for our twelve communities, including census profiles.
- This can be a great opportunity to engage post-secondary researchers.