The Basics for Navigating DATA2GO.NYC

DATA2G0.NYC is a free, easy-to-use online mapping and data tool created by the nonprofit Measure of America with funding from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. It brings together for the first time federal, state, and city data on a broad range of issues critical to the well-being of all New Yorkers. The website includes over 300 indicators for New York City's fifty-nine community districts, and over 150 of these indicators are also available by census tract. Many were previously unavailable to the public, or not available by community district.

This guide is intended to help users navigate DATA2GO.NYC and is organized by the site's three main interfaces: MAPS, DASHBOARDS, and CONNECTIONS.

Tip: DATA2GO.NYC works best in full screen mode, or when it covers most of the screen.

INTERFACE #1: MAPS

The MAPS view allows you to produce NYC maps for about 200 indicators by NYC community district and about 160 indicators by census tract. These indicators are grouped into twelve categories. Using the MAPS view, you can:

There are two ways to select an indicator. Click on the triangle or type in the search box to find what you are looking for. The indicators are grouped into twelve categories.

Nesting drop-down menus for selecting indicators

Tip: The darker the color on the map, the higher the value of the chosen indicator.

To map data for a different geographic area, there are two options:

MAPS view enables you to see the value of an indicator across the city

Tip: Many indicators can be found in more than one of the twelve categories. The indicator "Usually Drink One or More Sugary Drinks Daily," for example, can be found in both the FOOD SYSTEMS and HEALTH categories because over-consumption of sugary drinks has an impact on health.

To see the value of a district or tract on your chosen indicator, click on the orange bar chart. On this chart, you can also:

Tip: The US Census Bureau divides New York City into 2,168 census tracts. DATA2GO allows you to view data for almost all of these tracts for over 150 indicators. A group of 54 tracts cannot be mapped; they all have populations of fewer than 100 people (and some are totally uninhabited areas like cemeteries). Because of this small population size, the data are not reliable.

Horizontal bar chart provides the full range of values for each indicator plus the NYC and borough averages

In addition to the chosen indicator, the MAPS view provides the racial and ethnic breakdown of the selected district and some basic socioeconomic data in the right-hand box. This box includes the district's American Human Development Index value. The American Human Development Index is a measure of well-being and opportunity. It is made up of health, education, and earnings indicators and expressed on a ten-point scale.

Right-hand box provides basic racial/ethnic and socioeconomic information

Tip: To find a specific census tract, put the tract number in Search.

Click on Features of Interest in the navigation bar along the top to see how facilities like subway stations, homeless shelters, libraries, parks, schools, supermarkets, and waste facilities relate to the indicators on your map.

Features of Interest overlay point location of important faciliites onto maps of geographic data

Select any of the seventeen features and the map will be populated with a dot per facility.

Each dot represents a facility

For most of these features, there is additional data per facility. Click on one of the dots and additional data about that facility will appear in the lower right section of your screen. To remove the feature, unclick the box.

Click a dot for more information

To find the source of an indicator on the map by community district or census track, click on INFO below the orange bars. To find out the source of information on specific facilities, click on the on the top right of the facilities information box. Doing so will tell you where the data come from and any important clarifications or caveats. Click on Get Data to go to the website where the data can be found. For many indicators in DATA2GO, the data are not publicly available or have been geocoded by Measure of America to be available by district. In these cases, fill out the short form to access the data in Excel or .csv spreadsheets.

INTERFACE #2: DASHBOARDS

MAPS displays a single indicator across New York City community districts or census tracts. DASHBOARDS, on the other hand, shows multiple indicators for a single community district. This view does not include any tract-level data. DASHBOARDS allows you to:

The district that you left behind in MAPS will automatically carry over to the DASHBOARDS view. To change the district, click on the map in the bottom-left corner of your screen. The district you have selected will then turn pink.

DASHBOARDS offers data visualization of every indicator included in MAPS by community district

The DASHBOARD opens with data visualizations for a set of basic indicators. To create your custom view you can:

The twelve indicator categories will drop down; click on one to see the available indicators in that category.

To add new visualizations:

Rollover the modules to get precise stats.

To find the source of an indicator, click on the i in the upper right hand corner of the visualization. Doing so will tell you where the data come from and any important clarifications or caveats. Click on Get Data to go to the website where the data can be found. For many indicators in DATA2GO, the data are not publicly available or have been geocoded by Measure of America to be available by district. In these cases, fill out the short form to access the data in Excel or .csv spreadsheets.

INTERFACE #3: CONNECTIONS

The CONNECTIONS section enables users to do two things: explore the correlation between two variables across New York City's fifty-nine community districts and examine how individual community districts stack up when compared with other city districts on the given variables. It answers this question:

"Is there a correlation between variable x and variable y, and if so, how strong is the relationship?"

On the Connections section are fifteen x variables and, for each x variable, a unique set of y variables. To select an x-value, press the blue dropdown menu and a list of the 15 x indicators will appear.

Select an x value from the top menu.

Then select your yellow y indicator. This will result in a scatterplot with fifty-nine dots, one for each of the city's districts, and a sentence that answers the above question about the relationship between these two variables across the city.

Watch the dots move!

You can also learn about how individual districts fare on these pairs of indicators by clicking on a dot. The blue bubble tells you the value of the x-axis indicator. The yellow bubble tells you the value for the y-axis indicator. If you are interested in comparing this district with another district, click on a second dot.

Tip: CONNECTIONS uses Pearson's correlation, which measures the linear relationship between two variables. Pearson's correlation yields a number ranging from -1 to +1 and is represented with the symbol r.

CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION:The Pearson's correlation describes the linear relationship between two variables. But it does not prove that a change in one variable causes a change in the other variable. Determining causal relationships requires extensive research and subject matter expertise.

Downloading, Printing, and Sharing

All of the printing, sharing, and downloading takes place in the upper right-hand corner.

PRINT button allows you to print your custom map or dashboard.

SHARE button offers the option to share your custom MAP, DASHBOARD, or CONNECTION view with others using either Facebook or Twitter.

DOWNLOAD button brings you to a short form to complete before being able to download all DATA2GO.NYC data in a .csv or Excel file. Data are organized in the twelve categories. The only data not available in this form are the philanthropy data, which are available by subscription from maps.foundationcenter. org. The source data (accessible by clicking i) will bring users to the website where the data can be extracted. DOWNLOAD offers users the data already downloaded, extracted, and cleaned.