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PlaceRank: Assessing City/Place Peer Group Status PlaceRank is an integrated software and database used to rank cities/places based on user selected criteria. In addition, PlaceRank enables the user to view extended demographic profiles showing side-by-side comparisons of selected places. This document summarizes how PlaceRank works and how it can be used. Many of us are interested in the demographics of cities and learning how cities of interest are changing. Investors, families, businesses, and others want to know how some cities compare to others. There is no single, one-size-fits-all "best places" ranking. Different thresholds, ranking criteria, and weights apply to meet different circumstances and intended uses of city/place rankings. Community and Economic Development. Community and economic development programs can benefit by using PlaceRank to analyze their community rankings, identify relative strengths, and identify areas areas of opportunity where their ranking can be improved. With the PlaceRank data display, you can see the results of each factor. While you may not be able to improve the value of a factor you can get a better understanding of the relative strengths and weaknesses of one place relative to others. Locating Communities Right for Your Business. Businesses seeking to expand or diversify locations can use PlaceRank to compare and contrast communities. How do the communities that you are considering compare? Are there communities that meet your basic criteria that might have been overlooked? PlaceRank helps provide these answers. PlaceRank Database. Although extensive data are available for analyzing city infrastructure, socioeconomic composition and trends, and geophysical characteristics, only the PlaceRank database pulls together essential subject matter items. Many of the multi-sourced data items are difficult to obtain. Many of the source data require conversion into a form useful for analysis. The data have to be up-to-date to provide reliable insights. The PlaceRank database also includes an extended set of demographic items useful for more detailed comparisons. Side-by-side place comparative analysis profiles may be displayed and optionally output to an Excel file. Subject matter items include general demographics, social characteristics, economic characteristics, and housing characteristics. How PlaceRank Operates. PlaceRank operates on the user's computer. The user selects from several criteria used to rank cities included in a group of cities (e.g., places in one state of a certain population size). Weights assigned to each criteria by the user depending upon what the rankings are intended to reveal. Threshold Specifications. PlaceRank inclusion/exclusion criteria thresholds may be applied to establish the peer group. • Population minimum and/or maximum to be included. • Located in a specified state to be included. • Located in a metropolitan statistical area to be included. Ranking Criteria. The PlaceRank database includes the following items that may be selected used for ranking places. • Educational Attainment -- measure of intellectual wealth • Population Percent Change 2000 to 2005 -- measure of demographic vibrancy • Per Capita Personal Income Percent Change 1999 to 2005 -- measure of economic progress • Median Household Income -- measure of economic prosperity • Median Housing Age -- measure of infrastructure age • Limited English Proficiency -- measure of literacy and communication characteristics • Commute Time -- measure of transportation congestion and lost time Additional forthcoming measures: ambience, cost of living index, recreational facility access, health care resources, higher education resources, interstate access, major airport access, climate, environmental conditions. Weights Applied to Ranking Criteria. What is important to you? Weights are initialized for each of the ranking criteria based on one set of criteria. Any ranking criteria can be turned off by assigning a weight of zero. The weight of any ranking criteria can be modified by the user. This process enables the user to set a dominant effect by one or a selected ranking criteria. Operation and Use of Ranking Results. When PlaceRank is started, the user makes setting selections and clicks a rank button. Threshold criteria are assigned and the ranking process proceeds. The ranking is displayed in a grid. The score associated with each ranking criteria is displayed in a spreadsheet-like grid. The ranking is performed on the sum of the scores for each of the weighted criteria. The place with the highest score is displayed first with the remaining places listed in descending order based on the cumulative score. The Find operation can be used to locate a place by name. The Filter operation can be used to view places in a particular metro, state, or meeting any specified criteria. The XLS operation writes the contents of the current ranking to an Excel output file. |
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