BNIA Produces Information from Data to Benefit Baltimore

“When… data is organized, processed and given a context, it [becomes] information. It is this information that is… critical in decision making.”

Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance’s (BNIA) goal is “to strengthen Baltimore neighborhoods by providing meaningful, accurate, and open data at the community level.” One way BNIA brings this information to life is through Vital Signs, which is a yearly “compendium of data points, compiled from a variety of reliable sources…, [that] form[s] a picture of any given neighborhood’s quality of life and overall health.” Vital Signs provides an interactive application to anyone with internet access. Vital Signs is a great resource for residents and community leaders alike, as “community leaders tap into BNIA data to track progress and advocate for change in their neighborhoods.”

One of these (major) changes is the Perkins, Somerset, Old Town Transformation (PSO Project), for which BNIA has created a dashboard “to keep track of progress… [of] key indicators.” The same data that BNIA is using to monitor the progress is the same data that has kept areas like Perkins Home, a majority Black community, from being developed for so long. Generally speaking, “the statistics for Black communities in Baltimore City are not positive… compared to white communities…, [and] developers and investors [end up inadvertently] using negative neighborhood characters as a proxy for race and choosing not to develop there.” These statistics include “greater social service costs…, declining business activity… [and] lower individual incomes” which leads to “an overburdened tax base.” This “drop-off in public investment and infrastructure” creates a “downward spiral” referred to as “an equilibrium characterized by decay.” But the PSO project is a modern public-private partnership which is set to build a “a new 21st Century school, new community amenities and opportunities, neighborhood improvements, and a supportive services plan aimed at helping families meet their goals.” More importantly however, is that it will include a “vibrant mixed income community with affordable and market rate housing” helping negate primary negative effect of gentrification, and “not only match one-for-one Perkins’ subsidized housing but spread the units across the [entire PSO] site.”

Data itself only has potential it is the information waiting to be found in that data from which decisions can be made.