KCUMA Drilldown Study May Lead to City Census Challenge
Release Date: Jun 11, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2008
Contact: Dan Melton, 816-309-7203
melton.dan@gmail.com
kcuma.org
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – On June 16, Wayne Cauthen, city manager, Kansas City, Missouri, Robyne Turner, PhD, Bloch School’s Cookingham Institute for Urban Affairs at UMKC and many other community partners participated in presenting the results from Kansas City’s first DrillDown study. Cauthen says he will use the data to challenge limited Census information.
Several years ago, the Cookingham Institute of Urban Affairs at the UMKC Bloch School and UMKC’s Center for Economic Information brought Social Compact, a national nonprofit coalition that promotes successful investment in communities, to Kansas City to conduct an in-depth DrillDown study. The project, now known Project Kansas City Urban Market Assets (KCUMA), uses a multitude of city, state and commercial data records to create a more accurate picture of demographic and economic information in urban core neighborhoods.
Census information has limitations, such as: only conducting a full count every 10 years; increasingly undercounting urban core areas as time passes; missing pockets of development and subsequent growth; excluding the informal (cash) economy.
The DrillDown study: provides accurate market information about our urban core areas; estimates urban population using multiple data sources from federal, state and city levels as well as transactional data (utility, purchases, and tax information); and uncovers hidden market assets, like population, true purchasing power, and the informal economy.
“This is the first time a university has partnered in bringing a DrillDown study to a city,” says Lee Bolman, interim dean of the Bloch School. “As Kansas City’s school of business and public administration, Bloch and UMKC are pleased to be a partner in bringing this much-needed research to our city, particularly during Kansas City’s downtown revitalization. The research will have significant impact on the city as well as on urban studies and research at Bloch.”
Kansas City is the 15th city nationwide to conduct a DrillDown. Other cities include Harlem, N.Y., Chicago, Ill., Houston, Texas, Washington, D.C. and Oakland, Calif.
According to John Talmage, president and CEO of Social Compact, "Social Compact is proud to bring its decade-long experience measuring missed market potential to Kansas City, Mo. It is gratifying to have this exceptional relationship with Project KCUMA, whose local commitment to information and markets complements our work to stimulate investment in underserved communities.
"We are also working together through this partnership with the city and Congressman Cleaver among others,” he adds. “This business intelligence will highlight the investment opportunity that a wide range of Kansas City neighborhoods possess.”
Data highlights from the June 16 rollout include:
· The DrillDown estimates the current population of the city of Kansas City, Missouri to be 533,117 - approximately 71,000 higher than 2000 Census estimates.
· Census 2006 estimates show a small population decrease of -1.9 percent, compared to the DrillDown estimates of a 15 percent increase.
· The DrillDown estimates that Kansas City's average household income is $54,000, 13 percent higher than the Census 2000 estimate. When the informal or "cash" economy is included, the average household income rises to $57,000.
· The DrillDown estimates the citywide cash economy to be worth $668 million dollars.
· Downtown neighborhoods show strong change and very high purchasing power per acre.
· District 3, often perceived as lacking market viability, exhibits strong density and the second highest purchasing power per acre in the city.
· Neighborhoods in the northland, including Shoal Creek, experienced rapid change and growth since the Census 2000.
Project KCUMA is a public-private partnership between UMKC, the City of Kansas City MO, NonProfit Technologies, development councils, community development corporations and Social Compact to stimulate investment and provide better asset data for the Kansas City urban core.
Partners include Social Compact; City of Kansas City, MO: Planning Department, Water Department, Codes, Building Permits, IT; Jackson County; Platte County; Clay County; UMKC Center for Economic Information; UMKC Bloch School Cookingham Institute of Urban Affairs; DST Systems, Inc; MainCor; Southtown Council; Brush Creek Community Partners; Econ. Development Council of Kansas City; Broadway/Westport Association; Nonprofit Technologies, llc; and Plum Design.
Media or others unable to attend the June 16 rollout event may also participate in the following Webinars, which will review data released at the rollout.
KCUMA Webinar June 24 at 2 p.m.
Details: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/join/430230557
Conference Call: (702) 824-9510, access code 430-230-557
KCUMA Webinar July 16 at 10 a.m.
Details: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/join/164629572
Conference Call: (217) 287-4188, access code 164-629-572
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