Data Byte: American Migration Map
American Migration Map
In Sarasota County, many of us have moved here from somewhere else in the United States. Have you ever wondered what our county’s migration patterns would look like if they were visualized on a map of the entire United States? The interactive American Migration map makes this possible for any of us to look at migration to and from each county in the United States annually from 2005-2009. Simply click on Sarasota County on the interactive map, and you will see which counties people move here from (blue), and which counties people move to (red). The map is created by Forbes, sponsored by IBM, and based on IRS data. Over the course of 2009, almost 40 million Americans moved from one house to another and over 40,000 people moved across the Sarasota County line. The map shows us that Sarasota is attracting more people from around the country than we are losing, although this ratio has been decreasing over the past few years. Wouldn’t it be neat if we could see which neighborhoods within Sarasota County people are moving to and from? This might soon be possible through the Community Data Collaborative forming here in Sarasota County. What other kinds of data about Sarasota County would you like to see visualized on an interactive map like this?
Community of Practice forming for Resident Community Changemakers
SCOPE soon will be announcing the 2012 fellows of the Resident Community Changemakers program. This 20 hour / week fellowship is designed to support neighbor-initiated, neighbor-led community change efforts throughout Sarasota County. The fellows will be partnering with their neighbors and with SCOPE over the next 9 months to co-develop community-building approaches that are tailored to the particularities of their home neighborhoods, and will be sharing discoveries and insights along the way with fellow neighbors and the broader community.
In addition to the fellowship, a “Community of Practice” will be established for others who are interested in resident community changemaking in their home neighborhoods throughout Sarasota County. We will meet for 2 hours once a month to share strategies and discoveries, and to provide a cross-neighborhood forum for “peer consultation” about efforts that neighbors are leading. SCOPE will bring along community-building resources to share with participants, including neighborhood-specific community data. In these ways, we will be able to learn together and provide each other with support to “keep on” with neighbor-led community-building efforts that are happening throughout our county.
If you are interested in participating in the Community of Practice, please contact Allison Pinto, Ph.D. at apinto@scopexcel.org The first session will take place in February, and when the date, time and place are determined, details will be available on SCOPE’s website, blog, Facebook page and Twitter feed. Stay tuned!
SCOPE’s Data Team has Re-Booted!
The Community Data Team meets weekly at SCOPE, both to support the development of a county-wide Community Data Collaborative and to develop data resources that can inform a variety of local community efforts. The team has recently “re-booted,” and now includes:
· Laurel Corrao -- Laurel is a resident of the Indian Beach / Sapphire Shores neighborhood and is a student at New College majoring in Environmental Sciences. She is participating in a GIS internship at SCOPE through New College.
· Doug Griffin – Doug is a resident of Longboat Key who is now retired and previously worked as the Vice President of Technology in a higher education setting after ten years in IBM consulting. His background is in technology and business, with a degree in Operations Research.
· Joan Haber – Joan lives in the Landings community. She has a degree in Demography and conducts demographic analyses with both SCOPE and the Institute for the Ages. She also has been actively involved for 15 years in the Disability Community.
· Colleen McGue – Colleen is a resident of the Central-Cocoanut neighborhood of Newtown and is an employee of SCOPE and the Institute for the Ages. She has a degree in Community/Regional Planning and Latin American Studies, is experienced in GIS mapping, and has a particular interest in transportation and community change initiatives.
· Allison Pinto – Allison is a resident of the Central Cocoanut neighborhood of Newtown and directs the Community Data Initiative at SCOPE. She also directs Banyan Sprout, Inc., a neighborhood-focused practice in child psychology and community well-being. She has a degree in clinical child psychology, with a background in complex systems approaches and community change initiatives.
We’ve got some very exciting data efforts underway, especially as relate to economic, environmental, and social well-being. If you have interests and skills that relate to data gathering or analysis, time to devote to community data efforts, and are interested in joining the team, please contact Allison Pinto at apinto@scopexcel.org. And stay tuned…more to follow soon!
Job Title: Green Map Data Steward
Purpose: The Sarasota County Green Map is an online, interactive map highlighting Sarasota County’s many sustainability features. It serves as a central, geographically-focused resource to assist community members and visitors in their efforts to live more sustainably. Green Map Data Stewards are needed to help take the Sarasota County Green Map to the next level with Open Green Map. Open Green Map is a global platform that allows visitors not only to view sites but also to share their insights, ratings and images or suggest new sites.
Responsibilities: The initial data upload will involve adding the existing Sarasota County Green Map sites, provided in spreadsheet format, to Open Green Map using their ‘Add Green Site’ online form. Long-term data updates and maintenance will require collecting data from specified external websites and other sources into spreadsheets and adding/updating sites on Open Green Map.
Time Requirements: Hours are flexible. In the short-term, this role will require about 20 hours for the initial data upload which should be completed by March 10h. Long-term, it will require 2-5 hours a month for data updates and maintenance.
Skills and Qualifications: Basic computer literacy including knowledge of and familiarity with MS Excel and the internet.
Orientation and Training: An orientation with a Sarasota County Green Map team member will be provided to review the processes to be used.
Benefits: Opportunity to improve data management skills and make a key contribution to the development a dynamic tool for promoting and encouraging sustainable choices in our community.
Job Location: Work may be done from home or at the SCOPE Office, 1226 North Tamiami Trl, Suite 202, Sarasota, FL 34236.
Contact: Allison Pinto at SCOPE, 941-365-8751 or apinto@scopexcel.org.
Responding to Economic Inequality with Nurturance, Rather than Indifference
I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.
– Edward Everett Hale
Yesterday, I posted some reflections on the relationship between economic inequality and toxic stress - the kind of stress that significantly compromises well-being.
I shared my sense that over time, living in a community with economic inequality creates a collective unconscious awareness that such a community is generally indifferent. And this awareness of indifference then contributes to transforming the hardships we experience into toxic stress.
I ended with the question: So how might we respond?
Today’s post is a preliminary response to that question.
A lot of efforts in communities, including our community of Sarasota / Sarasota County, focus on addressing hardships.
However, toxic stress is not simply a result of exposure to hardships — it develops when a person experiences hardships in a hostile or indifferent environment. It is about experiencing threats with no sense that there are others to turn to when coping with the hardships.
So some community efforts focus instead on relationships and the quality of the environment, even in the face of hardships. These efforts are devoted to safeguarding against indifference.
Banyan Sprout is one example. This is an organization that I established in my own neighborhood through collaboration with my neighbors. Banyan Sprout celebrates and promotes the nurturing response of the environment with-and-for kids in the Central-Cocoanut neighborhood of Newtown – even while hardships of daily life exist. It was formed in response to the tremendous evidence of nurturance being expressed by neighbors of all ages, in the many places and spaces of the neighborhood. Banyan Sprout aims to further cultivate the nurturing capacity of the neighborhood environment, in particular, so that every child has the confidence that there’s somebody in the neighborhood to turn to no matter what. We’re figuring out together how to become more attuned and responsive as a neighborhood, so that every child acquires the deep belief that they’ll be able to cope with whatever comes their way. And once that’s true for all of our neighborkids, we’re betting it will be true for all of us.
SCOPE’s Resident Community Changemakers fellowship is another example. Residents of Sarasota County who want to be effective community builders in their home neighborhood will soon begin this 9-month fellowship. The goals are to generate connections, inspiration and action in their own neighborhoods. With fellow neighbors they will work to explore their shared territory, strengthen relationships, develop communication processes, promote a sense of community, and come together in response to changes occurring in the neighborhood.
Both Banyan Sprout and Resident Community Changemakers focus on how one’s own neighborhood is and can be a nurturing rather than indifferent environment, even in the face of hardship, and how it can become even more nurturing through the combined efforts of neighbors.
Now if our hope is to ameliorate toxic stress throughout Sarasota County, for the sake of community-wide well-being, the ultimate question seems to be this:
What will it take for our broader community to become more nurturing - as reflected in, among other things, ever-increasing economic equality throughout our city and county of Sarasota?
Yikes - that’s a pretty complex dilemma to explore.
So maybe to begin, it’s worth “scaling in” to ask ourselves:
Where in our community do we see neighborhood examples of efforts to be attuned, responsive and nurturing in the face of hardship?
These hyper-local examples of “doing something” might offer some clues to aide us in continued explorations.
Please share any evidence you discover!
Economic Inequality and Toxic Stress
As a community engagement organization focused on community well-being, SCOPE is generating a local conversation about economic equality / inequality and how it relates to the well-being of everybody. One aspect I’m interested in exploring is how economic inequality relates to toxic stress, and how we might respond to both.
What is economic inequality?
Economic inequality is the concept that it’s not simply the stress of having less money that compromises well-being (health and mental health, learning, social relations, etc.) — it’s how big a difference there is between the economic realities of the people with the most money in the community and the people with the least money. Lots of research is showing that it’s the size of this difference that relates to well-being: the bigger the difference, the more everybody’s well-being is reduced. When there’s a big difference between the experience of the people with the most money and the people with the least money, this is like “social smog,” affecting everybody.
What is toxic stress?
In an article published in Tuesday’s Herald-Tribune titled, “Hugs Help Fight Poverty,” New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof raises the issue of “toxic stress.” He explains that toxic stress is not defined simply as exposure to hardships — it is about experiencing hardships in a hostile or indifferent environment. It is about experiencing threats with no sense that there are others to turn to when coping with the hardships.
He goes on to say that when babies experience high levels of toxic stress before they are born and in the first few years of life, this early experience increases the odds of health, learning and social difficulties over the course of a lifetime. In other words, toxic stress compromises well-being. And it’s not just babies — anybody at any age experiencing toxic stress is at greater risk of difficulties.
So how does economic inequality relate to toxic stress?
My sense is that when we live in a community where there’s a big difference between the economic realities of the families with the most money and the families with the least money, and we see evidence of this difference day in and day out, and we don’t see sufficient clues that it is changing for the better over time, it is human nature to interpret this is a sign that we’re living in “an indifferent environment.” We get the feeling that as a whole community we’re acting as if everything’s okay when everybody can see clearly that it’s not.
My sense is that over time, living in a community with economic inequality creates a collective unconscious awareness that ours is a community that is generally indifferent. And this awareness of indifference then contributes to transforming the hardships we experience into toxic stress.
So How Might We Respond?
There are some efforts underway here in Sarasota County to become more attuned, responsive and nurturing as a community - to resist collective indifference in the face of hardship and economic inequality. For a couple of local examples check out my next blog post here…
And if you see some other examples throughout our community, please share them with us on the SCOPE Blog!
Through the Census Looking Glass: Economic Equality Here in Sarasota County
In a recent blog post, Tim Dutton invited us to begin thinking together as a community about econonomic equality here in Sarasota County. Although we don’t yet have great local data available, here’s one way to begin taking a look:
In a recent Herald-Tribune article titled, “Census: Sarasota neighborhoods are among state’s richest,” reporter Zac Anderson notes that Sarasota County has “more rich enclaves than all but one other Florida county with a population below 1 million,” with census tracts covering Bird Key, Lido Key and Longboat Key among the “100 richest in Florida.” The median household income in these places is over $100,000. He also notes that our county includes “one of the 100 poorest census tracts in Florida,” located within Newtown, where the median household income is less than $20,000. That’s it — the economic equality issue - in living color here in Sarasota County.
The Herald-Tribune created an interactive map that makes it possible to take a look at patterns in household economic wealth across the county. Click on the hyperlink to check it out for yourself. This map reveals that there are some other census tracts here where the median household income is pretty low (under $35,000) and others where it is pretty high (over $80,000). What strikes me especially is that in several places (North Sarasota and parts of North Port), areas with high and low household income rub up against one another.
I live in such an area. The reality makes itself known to me every day, as I walk my dog along a path that is a mere 4 blocks long. It is undeniable.
How do we make sense of this? What meaning do we ascribe to it, with regard to what these realities reveal about who we are as a whole community of people? What does it say about who and how we are choosing to be with one another?
Wilkinson’s book about this topic is titled, “The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger.” It does seem to me that these patterns are a reflection of our community spirit.
One question that keeps me up at night is this:
What will it take for our community spirit to soar?
Feeling Energized by the Fresh Perspectives of Neighbors
Over the past three weeks, we’ve met with over a dozen individuals from neighborhoods throughout Sarasota County - individuals who are interested in working as Resident Community Changemakers in their home neighborhoods. These residents shared pictures of the places in their neighborhood they like best, described neighbor-led efforts already underway, and talked about their hopes for their home neighborhoods, as well as our broader shared community. Each conversation generated new curiosities and started to bring some aspect of Sarasota County into clearer focus, as we reflected together on the particular “good stuff” that already exists in a given neighborhood and the different ways that residents are connecting with one another in neighborhoods throughout the county. The enthusiasm and creativity expressed by these Sarasota County residents is impressive, and if it is any indication of the potential that exists here, then our community has much to anticipate in 2012!
More Equality, More Well-Being for All
I am a big fan of the TED.com talks about current Technology, Entertainment and Design issues emerging around the world. A month or so ago I came across a TED Talk by Richard Wilkinson, a British health economist. It is 16 amazing minutes of one chart after the next establishing the correlation between income inequality/equality and suffering/thriving.
Normally we think about this topic through the lens of charity and “good works.” Now there is a different and more powerful way to think about it and how it impacts those who have a lot of money and those who don’t and everyone in between. This is a fundamental question that is relevant to community engagement and community success right here in Sarasota County.
What is Wilkinson talking about when he uses the term “equality?” He’s exploring the impact on overall well-being of the distance between those with very little income and those with a great deal. Specifically, he looks at the size of the gap and its impact on measures of societal health. In his words, he’s looking at, “…how much richer the richest 20% is … compared to the poorest 20%.” When one looks at this across countries, the difference between wealth and poverty ranges from about 4 times in the most equal countries to 10 times in the least equal. Equipped with that set of data, Wilkinson then looks at measures of success or well-being compared to these levels of income inequality. The charts below are a taste of this data.
The states in the US are also shown to have such a relationship.
The punch line is that, “The evidence shows that reducing (income) inequality is the best way of improving the quality of the social environment, and so the real quality of life for all of us… If you want to know why one country does better or worse than another, the first thing to look at is the extent of (income) inequality.”
In the United Kingdom the evidence suggests that if income inequality were halved:
- Murder rates would halve
- Mental illness would reduce by two thirds
- Obesity would halve
- Imprisonment would reduce by 80%
- Teen births would reduce by 80%
- Levels of trust would increase by 85%
As it turns out this topic has started to resonate with others. National columnist, Nicholas Kristof, cites some pretty startling numbers about the level of income inequality in our country. The 400 wealthiest Americans have a greater combined wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans. Data about our nation shows that we are one of the most unequal when it comes to income. What are the implications? The drop-out rate, violent crime, math and literacy and an index of overall well-being are related to income inequality.
Furthermore, both Kristof and economist Paul Krugman indicate that there is evidence from the International Monetary Fund that “equality appears to be an important ingredient in promoting and sustaining growth.” Of the 65 industrial nations, the more unequal ones experience slower growth on average.
Enough already with the citations and data. Sorry - I get into this stuff.
What are the implications for community engagement? SCOPE believes that important and lasting change/improvement happens as a result of residents being engaged. So when a recent report from the America’s Civic Health Index showed that even basic engagement declines as a result of job loss or economic decline, the fact that the Great Recession has had a real impact on engagement.
Particularly important to Sarasota County is that this new analysis from Wilkinson makes the case that ALL income levels are negatively impacted by income inequality. That means that even wealthy people suffer from decreased well-being when they live in a community with high income inequality. This is a big point, a little surprising to many and worthy of a more detailed analysis.
When Wilkinson turns his attention to the 50 US states he shows that “…income inequality exerts a comparable effect across all population subgroups.” Others characterize this by saying that “…inequality acted like a pollutant spread throughout society.” One can conclude that within the US as well, the “benefits of greater equality were largest in poorer counties, but still existed even in the richest counties.”
Finally, SCOPE recognizes that data about these issues are not available at the local level and having these data would be helpful to understand how these issues come to life here in our own community. Over the next months we will pursue these data and will bring them to you in the context of these robust international studies. This information may shed light on the issue and point toward how we can make local changes that impact our community well-being.
What we discover as a community has implications for actions and decisions around programs, policy, expenditures and a reorientation to what we thought to be the nature of well-being in community.
What data do we need at the local scale to better understand this?
What can you imagine could happen here in Sarasota County that might make a difference?
At the Top of Our Game in Sarasota County
An article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune talked about the graying of our global population as our planet hits the 7 billion population mark. Ted Fishman, author of “Shock of Gray”, was quoted,
“Longer life is what human beings have wanted ever since we started talking to spirits and mixing herbs in bowls. And we worked at the top of our intelligence to get to this point of our life. It took almost the sum total of human history to get it. And now we have to work at the top of our intelligence to solve the social challenges that come with longer life and aging societies.”
I like Ted Fishman’s thinking. It’s definitely “glass half-full” thinking, recognizing that we have the capacity globally to meet this demographic challenge and ensure quality of life for older adults.
Naturally, part of the discussion revolves around, “how might we do this without creating an impossible burden on the younger generations?” I recently discovered the “Global Aging Preparedness Index” , which assesses which countries are most prepared to create a balance between benefits/quality of life for older adults and fiscal burden on society. While that report analyzes options with potential outcomes for various government policies, it concludes that we all play a part. That is, businesses, individuals and families along with government at all levels, have a role and the responsibility, to create pieces of the solution.
It is fortunate to be in Sarasota County. The newly formed Institute for the Ages is putting together projects to develop and test products, services and policies that will contribute to the quality of life for older adults. Sarasota residents will contribute their thinking and lived-experience as part of a beta site for numerous projects. This is about out-of-the-box thinking and Sarasota County is squarely in the innovation arena with the potential to transform the lives of older adults here and elsewhere.
Another resource with much potential is the Aging with Dignity and Independence initiative. Led by a partnership of SCOPE, The Patterson Foundation and USF Sarasota-Manatee, this qualitative research yielded six big themes that impact the experience of aging with dignity and independence. The recent report provides questions for reflection, solutions to consider, and a broad listing of resources and best practices that have helped other communities and could catalyze ours.
Businesses, individuals, nonprofits, institutions, government - each sector has the role and the responsibility to be part of the solution. What solutions do you want to help create?
I like to remember Albert Einstein’s words, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”