I N T R O D U C T I O N Preparing a Housing Report Assist others to understand the broader context of housing market health The objective of a housing report is to assist residents, governments, and businesses to understand the broader context of housing market health. Housing markets can be affected by changes in jobs, population, infrastructure and market conditions. By getting data about our area of concern and putting it in context within the larger region, we can better understand the housing market and our path towards housing redevelopment. This tutorial will guide you through the process of creating a housing report at the county level. We will use Greene County, Arkansas as our focal point. To view this document offline, click here: Click Step 1 in the navigation menu at the top of your screen or scroll down to get started. To return to the main field guide page, click here. S T E P O N E https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3g 1/30
The Introduction It's always a good idea to start with a map Start with a narrative of the community within the context of housing. It should provide: 1. Brief Introduction (one or two paragraphs) of the community: Current population and any recent growth statistics. You can collect some of this data at the Data Warehouse or the Interactive Map. Identify prominent communities within Greene County (e.g., Paragould is county seat and largest). Location relative to interstates and major cities (e.g., approximately 47 miles west or 45-minute drive of Memphis on Interstate 40). Interesting historical trivia, geological characteristic, tourist attraction, etc. (e.g., contains the beautiful Crowley s Ridge National Scenic Byway which is one of the most scenic motorcycle rides in the state ). 2. Map Here you could use the Interactive Map to create one and take a screenshot or use one collected during the Housing Inventory tutorial. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3g 2/30
3. Purposes of this report and how it is useful. Here is a good excerpt from another housing report: The 2014 HMS can be used to inform the city s continued land development code reform efforts by providing both a quantitative estimate of housing needs, as well as resident-driven information on housing preferences and challenges. Altogether, this information should be used in future phases of code reform to promote and advance the conversation around affordability. 4. Sources used. To add credibility and weight to your report, it is helpful to mention the source of your data. For example, if you got data from the data warehouse, the source would probably be Dun and Bradstreet. If you got data from the University of Arkansas Little Rock's Institute for Economic Advancement (UALR - IEA), the source would be the US Census. Tips on taking a good screenshot (from another tutorial): If you are using a PC, use the Print Screen button and paste into MS Paint. Use Paint to crop your image appropriately. If you are using a Mac, press command + shift + 4 to open the screenshot tool for outlining your image. When using the Interactive Map, which uses Google Maps, take advantage of the Terrain option at the top-right, which can make for a better image. The terrain option can sometimes improve your screenshots Boundaries are great, too! Use the Interactive Map to query the name of your town and place that image at the lower-right side of your main screenshot. Use the EAPDD Service Boundary to add some context. This process will involve some cropping and layering of images. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3g 3/30
Use the query tools to customize the layer City limits layer https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3g 4/30
Crop with the EAPDD Service Boundary to add context Quick finished map as a result S T E P T W O https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3g 5/30
Existing Demographic, Social, and Economic Data With our data we can create numerous charts and graphs In this section you would present some of the specifics of your county breaking down individual statistics. This is where the data collected from the Data Warehouse, Interactive Map, and the UALR - IEA will be used. It will help to structure this section into subsections. I will also show you how to create charts and graphs using Microsoft Excel. 1. Demographics Demographic data is concerned with age, sex, race, and components of change within the population. Review the data you have collected and use the data to put this demographic section into context. For example, Greene County is one of only three counties in the East Arkansas Planning and Development District that is seeing population growth. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3g 6/30
Population Changes in the EAPDD Green County remains a place full of families and people made up of middle-aged adults. Alongside this data we will create some graphs and charts. Open up the Green County Demographic Profile that you should have downloaded from the UALR's web page. Open your Green County Demographic Profile The first tab "Sex and Age" should contain population components broken down by age groups. Select the first two columns and now, within the Charts tab, choose Insert Chart. You could also use the file menu at the top and choose Insert > Chart. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3g 7/30
Open your Green County Demographic Profile Select the first two columns Insert Chart Then, choose the type of chart that you would like to use. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3g 8/30
Choose the type of chart you want to insert You should now have an unformatted bar chart. Unformatted Bar Chart Excel provides you with a number of ways to format the chart and make it more readable and improve on the design. Take advantage of these tools. Tools for designing your chart https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3g 9/30
Finished chart Looking at our data we can see that the the age groups dip around the time most young adults go off to college, while the highest age groups are adults in their childrearing years as well as teenagers and younger. Looking at the median age of our population (from the same dataset) adds another perspective about the age of the area. Use the same process by selecting the data we want and insert a chart. Median Age Group Data Finished Median Age Group Chart Now let's look at the household level. In the same file, change tabs from "Sex and Age" to "Relationship". https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 10/30
Choose the Relationship tab In the HOUSEHOLDS BY TYPE section, let's extract some data to create a useful data table. Start with this data set and whittle it down Data we want Finally, use some of the formatting options to alter the table. Formatting options https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 11/30
Finished table This data shows the majority of all households (about 70%) in Greene County are considered "Family Households". Depending on how much you want to show, you can continue picking out datasets and using the "Insert Chart" idea to create different types of charts. For now, we will continue, but keep in mind you have collected lots of data on demographics. 2. Social Social data is concerned with school enrollment, education, religious involvment, and other types of data that involve community participation. Here we will use the latest Social data we collected during the UALR (2012 dataset). Social data collected during Inventory tutorial On the second page there are two sections under SCHOOL ENROLLMENT and EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT. SCHOOL ENROLLMENT and EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 12/30
Since the 2012 document is a PDF, we will have to do some copy/pasting to get this into a table. PDFs are notoriously difficult to copy. For this one, we have to copy one column at a time and paste into an Excel table. Then, we will have to clean the table. Use CTRL + C to copy and CTRL + V to paste or if you have a MAC CMD + C and CMD + V, respectively. Column One copy/paste Column Two copy/paste https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 13/30
Data cleaned and organized Now use the table formatting options to improve readability and design. School Enrollment in 2012 - Data Table https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 14/30
Educational Attainment in 2012 - Data Table Educational Attainment in 2012 - Pie Chart There is also a section on birth place for residents in Green County. Created in Excel from 2008-2012 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Created in Excel from 2008-2012 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Social data adds another layer of perspective for picturing our community. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 15/30
3. Economic For the economic data we will the data from the 2008-2012 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Use the same method of copy and pasting from the PDF and turn the data into charts and tables that can be used to understand more about the community from an economic perspective. Created in Excel from 2008-2012 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Created in Excel from 2008-2012 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates S T E P T H R E E Housing Trends https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 16/30
Trends add context Now that you have provided a snapshot of where the community stands from a socioeconomic perspective, the next thing to do is add some more context. We are going to show how the community arrived at this snapshot and where it is probably headed. Hopefully, you downloaded all of the available time series data in the previous tutorial. We will use the "Four Page Profiles for Akansas State and Counties". Time Series Data Using the Housing components we are going to put together our own time sensitive data. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 17/30
Use the "Housing" part Within each Housing document, find the category for UNITS IN STRUCTURE and copy and paste that data from each yearly dataset into a table. From the 2006-2010 data series Remember from the previous section, that when copying from PDFs with tables you will copy one column at a time. By the end, you should have data from four different sets of data. Put these all side by side similar to the following table. Then format for report purposes: Data all combined into one table https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 18/30
Select all your table data Use the insert chart capabilities to insert a style of your choice You now have a formatted table Now let's compare across multiple years. Select all the numerical data and includethe column headers. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 19/30
Select your numerical data Then use the tools at the top to insert a bar chart. Select your chart choice Resulting chart... but might need work In this case, we want to compare specific units and right now are including total housing units in the same chart as mobile homes, so let's edit. When the chart is first inserted there should be some boxes around the original data. If they are not showing up, click on the chart area to activate the date. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 20/30
Selecting table source data Then edit the box constraints around the numerical data to only exclude Total housing units. Source data constraints https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 21/30
Edit source data constraints Now let's format the table to make it look a little better. Right-click on either the x-axis or the chart and choose "Select Data". That should bring up a menu that has an input box for "Category (X) axis labels:". Click on the button to the right of the input area and select the values for that axis. Right-click, choose "Select Data..." https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 22/30
The input area for X-Axis labels is circled in orange Selection box Selecting values for the x-axis Now use the Chart Layout and Format tools to finish adding labels, titles, and whatever else you think would improve this chart. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 23/30
Chart tools for format, layout and general design Finished table Now you have a finished table that puts housing into context within years leading up to the numbers you have already shown. S T E P F O U R Local versus Regional Context https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 24/30
Edited map comparing regional trends (using crop in MS Paint) In the first section, we looked at the most up to date data in our county. Then we tried to add some perspective by looking at yearly data leading up to our current data. Now, it would be even more useful to take a step back and see how our county is faring compared to surrounding counties. Start with the map collected in the Inventory tutorial, which shows population change across the state. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 25/30
Population Change Across the State According to the above map, Greene County is one of only 3 counties in 12 in the EAPDD that have seen population growth. Now, let's utilize the Interactive Map to create a regional comparison. Click here to open up the Interactive Map in a new tab. When it opens, go to the search section, select Census Counties, now click "Go!". Search menu for Census Counties https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 26/30
Next, go to the table section and click the Vacant Housing column header to sort from most to least. You may need to click twice. This will show us who has the most vacant housing units in the region. Sorting by counties with the most vacant housing If you scroll to the left, we will see that Greene County is in the top 5 in the region. Top 5 Counties by Vacant Housing Go back to the VAC_HU column and find the number where the top 5 ends (1467). We will use this data to help us filter our results. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 27/30
Top 5 cut-off Remove the current layer, now go back to the search menu and use this information to filter our data. Search Census Counties where VAC_HU is greater than (>) 1400 housing units. Then click "Go!" Remove the current layer Search query You should now have a map showing the top 5 we previously identified based on vacant housing units. Now, let's add the EAPDD Service boundary to spice up our map. https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 28/30
Screenshot of our top 5. Download the table, clean it up a bit, and add it to our report along with the screenshot. View of our table. Use the CSV icon at the top right to download. Our table after downloading, cleaning, and formatting Visit the EAPDD and try and get more regional data to compare locally. Is there anything to gain from comparing and contrasting the two? Does your county/place stand out as unique in this sense? https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 29/30
S T E P F I V E Important Notes Recommended Use It is impossible to include everything that is needed for an housing study or housing related program. The goal of this housing profile document is to provide basic information about a local economy intended for analysts and decision makers unfamiliar with the community. Further, this profile is used to demonstrate a community s capacity to perform data collection and analysis and also spur an internal conversation about housing in the community. Contact Information Include contact information for the city official or EAPDD staff member who can answer questions about information in the profile and conduct follow-up research as needed. To return to the main field guide page, click the option below: Housing Redevelopment Homepage M O R E I N F O Examples of other housing reports: City of Austin's Comprehensive Housing Market Analysis Harvard University's Study on Housing and Aging America UNC-Charlotte's Comprehensive Affordable Housing Market Study DePaul University's Housing Market Conditions Report by Civic Analytics https://3cf5a2465748228bb2f4c1cb74f2637ff9bb1d71.googledrive.com/host/0bw_2mgcxmb67flpfv2jpy0xbwwj4nc1bcmtxanjhuhpcuddhmwdytjbfs3 30/30