How many people are living in each neighborhood now?

The Census is the only publicly-available, official source of demographic data for areas as small as a neighborhood. But the Census wonít be providing new estimates for these small geographic areas until 2010. However, there are some alternative sources of population information for post-Katrina New Orleans neighborhoods that we have uncovered – after some extensive research. The one that is right for you depends on your needs and, in some cases, your available budget.

1. Commercial estimates
If you need small area data for site selection or other planning purposes and you have a budget of several hundred dollars to purchase it, there are commercial demographers who produce small area demographic estimates updated annually. Typically these companies release their annual estimates each spring. We carefully analyzed the methods each of these companies used to produce their estimates of neighborhood populations in post-Katrina New Orleans, and we can recommend the best company for your needs when you submit a request to Ask Allison on our home page.

2. USPS active residential deliveries
If you need small area estimates, but because of the rapid change in New Orleans, you know you will need more frequent updates than once a year, we have begun working with monthly counts of active residential deliveries from the United States Postal Service. Working with this data as a proxy for occupied households in small geographic areas is rather experimental. But extreme circumstances call for extreme measures. And we are happy to share with you what we can about how to use these data. Acquiring them will require a budget of several hundred dollars as well as GIS capability. If you submit a request to Ask Allison, and let us know how you hope to use this data, we can tell you more about its usefulness and its limitations. But to get started read our Research Note “Using U.S. Postal Service Delivery Statistics To Track the Repopulation of New Orleans & the Metropolitan Area”.

3. Neighborhood associations
Some neighborhoods have very active neighborhood associations with a network of block captains who are regularly counting the number of re-inhabited homes in their neighborhood. This can be a good source for population estimates if you are writing a grant and trying to demonstrate need for services in a particular neighborhood. You should check with your neighborhood association to see if they have such a system. Below are two good places to start:

*Louisiana Rebuilds Neighborhoods page has contact information and links to associations organized by neighborhood. To see if there is a neighborhood association serving your area, click on the neighborhood links here: www.louisianarebuilds.info/neighborhoods

*The Neighborhoods Partnership Network also keeps a list of neighborhood associations, including a liaison contact for each planning district. Their list is available here: www.npnnola.com/associations/

Hopefully, more data coming...

We are constantly on the look-out for more and better population estimates. If you want to keep on top of our discoveries, be sure to sign up for our Numbers Talk newsletter (on our homepage).