December, 2009

Cubit News — 1 Comment
10
Dec 09

Get Free Housing & Economic Data Until December 31st

New Home Construction in Washington state

New Home Construction

Until December 31, 2009, get free housing and regional economic data plus maps and shapefiles.  We launched a new report called the Housing and Regional Economics report (beta).  I’ll admit the name is dull, but getting cut-and-paste ready planning data in seconds is super cool, right?  By automating the boring data-gathering, you save money and can focus on higher level analysis and field work.

What Data Do You Get?

Preview Map: Census Blocks within 100 feet of Red Line

Cubit Preview Map: Census Blocks within 100 feet of Red Line

  • Map of Census geographies in your project area
  • Shapefile with Census geographies for your GIS guru

Housing Units

  • Occupied versus Vacant
  • Owner Occupied versus Renter Occupied
  • Median Home Value and Median Gross Rent

Labor Force

  • Armed Forces versus Civilian,
  • Employed versus Unemployed
  • Median Household Income
  • Average Income by Industry
  • Jobs by Industry (i.e. Agriculture, Construction, etc.)

Transportation

  • Means of Transportation (i.e. Drove Alone, Public, etc.)
  • Commute out of state, out of county or out of place/city

Data is available for the entire United States and down to the Census block level.  Check out a sample Housing and Regional Economics report (beta).

How do I Get Started?

Sign into your Cubit Account.

Don’t have a free Cubit Account yet?  You can sign up in less than 30 seconds on the Sign Up page.

Not ready to commit to an account?  No worries.  Take a test drive with the free Demo Account.  No sign up required.

Now how do you get your free data?

Draw your project area on the Google map interface.  Then, click on Create a Report, select Housing and Regional Economics, and click Save Report.  In seconds, Cubit spits out a data report in Word, a labeled map and a shapefile.  For more questions, visit the How Cubit Works page or contact me.

What’s the Catch?

We need your feedback.  Cubit’s best ideas come from our users.  So what tools or data do you want? Leave me a comment.  Or reach me by email.

What Happens after December 31, 2009?

After December 31st, the Housing and Regional Economics report will be a paid product.  Here’s our current price page if you are curious.

NEPA News — No Comments
9
Dec 09

Bad Public Involvement Delays 79 Permits

Coal mine in southern West Virginia

Coal mine in southern West Virginia

On November 24, Judge Chuck Chambers ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated NEPA by not providing sufficient means for the public to comment on two coal mountain top removal permits in the Appalachian Mountains.

The other 79 pending permits in the area could be sent back to go through the public process again as well, according to the Sierra Club spokesman, Oliver Bernstein.

Judge Chambers said that the US Army Corps of Engineers’ public involvement was lacking on two fronts.  First, he ruled that the information released to the public at first was unclear and inadequate.  Secondly, once the Corps released hundreds of pages of information actually relevant to the environmental assessment, it was released post-notice and post-comment.

The public notices would have been sufficient if they had included practical information, such as the type of plan proposed, the location, a map, information regarding topography, and historical background of the area.  “Plaintiffs are not requesting engineering-level detail,” Chambers said. “However, conceptual analysis is necessary… to intelligently comment on a public notice.”

NEPA Lesson Learned: Include practical information such as scope, location and a map with public notices.