www.roanoke.com

The Roanoke Times, the DataSphere and yours truly got a little media attention Monday from an important website in journalism circles, Poynter Online.

Columnist Ken Sands posted a piece called "What Does a 'Data Delivery Editor' Do?".

He gives some background on the creation of the DataSphere, and a little praise, too:

"Pretty innovative stuff for a newspaper. That's what can happen when you create staff positions such as 'data delivery editor.'"

Don't hold your breath, though, for the interactive mash-up of black bear sightings...

If you haven't read David Harrison's fine story on Hurt Park Elementary School from Sunday's paper, please do. It's a terrific story of a school community succeeding despite the currents running against it. It's based in part on demographic, enrollment and poverty data on Roanoke schools you can search in the DataSphere.

Hurt Park is in a number of ways emblematic of the trends in Roanoke that teachers and administrators are up against. The short-hand is the city school system is ever more "urban" each year. What that means is, the school system has increasing numbers of both minorities and children in poverty -- groups which historically have struggled academically. That's the oft-talked about "achievement gap." That trend is coupled with decreasing numbers of white and middle-class and affluent children, who tend to have greater academic success. And all this is happening in atmosphere of intense accountability for public schools, in which all students have to achieve, regardless of history and well-documented achievement gaps.

Look at Highland Park Elementary, for example. In 1990, about 31 percent of students were poor enough to be eligible for free or reduced-price lunch programs. Last year, that number hit 71 percent. Meanwhile, the total enrollment at the school has dropped by more than 50 percent.

But what do these demographic trends mean outside the school system? Demographers -- along with common sense -- tell you that, if our youngest residents are trending poor, that's what the adults in the city will look like in 15 or 20 years.

Even mentioning that out loud potentially exacerbates the "white flight" that's apparently going on, I know. But it's a statistical reality that matters. Increasing numbers of lower wage earners means less home-ownership, less liquid cash for city businesses, a diminishing tax base, and on and on.

The city is all about trying to reverse the trend. Witness the push for more new and higher-end housing in the city -- most especially on city-owned parcels, like at Colonial Green on Colonial Avenue or at Brambleton Avenue and Overland Drive. It's the same idea behind so far fruitless efforts to develop Countryside Golf Course. Then there's the push to revitalize the city's older core with projects like the Day Avenue renovation.

There seems to be a lot going on, but it is enough to turn the tide? Is housing the answer, or is the better chance for success in creating a school system that helps ensure that kids who are in poverty now don't grow up to become poor adults? Not that either is an easy -- or exclusive -- solution, mind you.

The crime data is on the way.
A couple of alert readers asked if we’ll have police blotter-type data on the DataSphere site. The answer is yes. The quality of it has yet to be determined.
I can tell you that in the near future we’ll have a massive, searchable database of crime data for each locality in the state, with scads of detail to it. You’ll be able to search by the department that reported each crime, among other ways.
Crime data is at its best when it’s fresh, detailed down to the address where the offense occurred, and available with interactive mapping.
You’ll find no better example than Chicagocrime.org.
Trust me, we aspire to all those great qualities in presenting our crime data. But to do that, you have to have the data with that level of detail, and that’s where our hopes get arrested.

Read more »

What is this thing, this DataSphere?

Think of it as a toolbox, a library, a warehouse full of data.

Yeah, I know. Data. Makes you want to have a nap.

But this is no online statistics class. This is stuff you can use: dozens of search-for-yourself databases on topics from schools, crime and politics to Virginia Tech football and trophy freshwater fish. Its news you find yourself and filter yourself, all set up for you to search with a click or two.

The Roanoke Times isn’t the first to offer a site like this. As the cliché goes: Talent imitates, genius steals.

You can see some fine efforts – ones that inspired us – at websites for papers like the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Indianapolis Star, the Greenville (S.C.) News, and the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press.

We are, however, the first paper in Virginia to offer a site like this.

We feel like we’ve got a good beginning with databases we’ve collected ourselves, and links to searchable data on both government and commercial sites elsewhere on the web. I’ll post a fact of the week, plus links to stories by our staff and others that relate to data. I’ve also got links to documents in the news, like the Michael Vick indictment and the Virginia Tech Review Panel report.

We’ll get better as we go. There’s plenty more data to come, like real estate transfers and property assessments and crime statistics.

And then there’s this blog, where you can offer your thoughts on what you found, or wish you’d found.

I’ll be posting here often, pointing out new data, showing off the newsy nuggets and just plain oddities I find, and gathering your thoughts.

So, consider this an invitation to help make this site as useful as it can be.

Well, what do you think so far?