Where should I begin?

There is no one right place to begin obtaining information about a community. If you want to view information on a map, use MAP. If you want to compare one indicator across different neighborhoods, or see multiple indicators for one neighborhood, use COMPARE. If you need a lot of information about an area or an indicator, use REPORT BUILDER. If you need an overall profile of an area, including a map and description of a neighborhood, use NEIGHBORHOOD SUMMARIES. Keep in mind your selections (indictors or geographies) will not always transfer to other sections of Community Facts.

Where did these neighborhoods come from?

Historically, the City and County of Denver has been the only place in the region that maintains statistically-bound neighborhoods. This means the neighborhoods are comprised of Census Tracts, which allow for ease in presenting most data. While many jurisdictions around the seven-county Denver metro region have some of their neighborhoods identified, there were not statistically-bound neighborhoods identified for the remaining six counties - until now. When developing this updated Community Facts tool, Shift Research Lab created a classification scheme to delineate neighborhood boundaries for the entire seven-county metro region. For more information on how the neighborhoods for the remaining six counties were identified, please contact Shift Research Lab. If you would like to provide feedback on the boundaries, you can visit our Neighborhood Delineation Tool.

Census Tracts are the primary geographic unit that indicator data is available for in Community Facts. They are the geographic building blocks that make up the neighborhoods. We realize that the available neighborhood boundaries outside of Denver might not capture your area of interest most accurately, so Census Tracts are also available for your use.

I don’t see an indicator that I need.

A current list of indicators available through Community Facts is available here. Community Facts is launching with most of the core indicators that were available in the previous version, with a few exceptions. New indicators will continue to be added, but please send feedback if there are specific indicators you would like us to consider including in the future.

Where is School Facts?

The new Community Facts will not include any Colorado Department of Education (CDE) data, as was previously available through the School Facts tool. You can obtain this data now from CDE’s SchoolView.

How do I print the information I assembled?

Printer-friendly functionality will be coming soon. In the meantime, if you want to print a MAP, COMPARE CHART or NEIGHBORHOOD SUMMARY, you will need to capture the image in your browser with an image capture tool.

Why is data N/A for a specific year? Or what does N/A mean?

Census data will not necessarily be comparable across time periods. This is due, in part, to the boundary changes that occurred in some Census Tracts between 2000 and 2010. Please contact Shift Research Lab if you have specific needs around this issue.

What is a margin of error?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a margin of error is the difference between an estimate and its upper or lower confidence bounds. Confidence bounds are created by adding the margin of error to the estimate (upper bound) and subtracting the margin of error to the estimate (lower bound).

The American Community Survey, which is used extensively throughout Community Facts, presents in its tables the error margins for 90% degree of confidence. This is the range in which the true value will fall 90% of the time, or nine times out of ten.

For example, given a data estimate of 79% with a margin of error of +/-1%, one can be 90% confident that the true percentage lies between 78% and 80%.

How do I cite or credit Community Facts?

If you are referencing data found on Community Facts, the citations should read:

Data sourced from Community Facts, A tool of The Piton Foundation’s Shift Research Lab: http://denvermetrodata.org/

If you want to find the raw data source for the indicators on this website:

1. Click on NEIGHBORHOOD SUMMARY
2. Select a neighborhood
3. Under each category, click on the “Data Definitions”

How do I provide feedback on this tool?

Hover your mouse over the orange FEEDBACK ribbon on the right side of your computer screen. Click on the FEEDBACK ribbon to open a comment box. Please provide your contact information if you would like Shift Research Lab to follow-up on your feedback.