The city has a new planning tool that pulls together hard-to-find information to help officials better direct resources to needy neighborhoods and let residents learn more about where they live.

Anyone with an Internet connection can use the data housed by the Neighborhood Indicators Project to sort and compare dozens of factors - about such things as poverty, crime, traffic crashes, code violations, infant health, property values, and school achievement - in 70 Madison neighborhoods, said Madison City Council President Tim Bruer.

The Web site and database can even indicate if there is a grocery store, hospital or bike path nearby, and what percentage of the residents own a car or home.

"It will be truly a workhorse and a warehouse of knowledge," said Bruer, who championed the project. "When constructively applied, it will be the foundation of strengthening neighborhoods and preserving quality of life for decades to come."

For example, officials will be able to use the data to spot emerging neighborhood problems such as crime and poverty, Bruer said.

The data could also help guide crucial policies on controversial issues such as housing development and mass transit. While some struggling neighborhoods suffer quietly, others with more political know-how are able to command city help. The data can help mediate those sometimes bitter battles for city dollars, said Andrew Statz, an aide to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz.

"We want to use it to better target our limited resources," he said. "If we see things slipping in a neighborhood, hopefully we can get involved sooner, when it's less expensive."

The project collects more than 40 types of data from city, county, school district, state and private sources, making it easy to compare the city's neighborhoods and planning districts.

It also pulls in information including figures on subsidized school lunches and updated Census estimates, Statz said.

The Madison program, which cost $155,000 in 2008 and 2009, is based on one used in Charlotte, N.C.

The Neighborhood Indicators Project went online Tuesday after years of negotiation between government agencies over how to protect individual privacy - over such things as personal income and kindergarten preparedness - and technical work by the UW-Madison Applied Population Lab.

"This really allows us to examine our city and not go on gut any more," said Ald. Lauren Cnare, 3rd District, who is on the community services committee.

Data describing conditions in 2008 is online now, with 2009 data to be added in a few months. The value of the database will grow as it is updated annually, Statz said.

The information can be sorted by planning districts, which cover the entire city, or by neighborhood association. About 70 associations are included. Some very small associations are not included in the sorting options.

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