Monday, May 13, 2013

ACS Community Profile: Introducing the Westmoreland CDP

According to Wikipedia, the Town of Westmoreland was formed in 1792 from the neighboring Town of Whitestown. In 1802, part of Westmoreland was used to establish the Towns of Vernon and Verona. More of Westmoreland was lost in 1855 during the formation of the Town of Kirkland, located to the south of Westmoreland. Since that time the town boundaries have remained relatively stable. While Wikipedia recongnizes some 8 differnt hamlets in the town, only one has current standing with the US Census Bureau, and that would be Westmoreland, the census designated place, or CDP.

The Westmoreland CDP is located around the intersection of Route 233 and Main Street, just south of the local entrance to the NYS Thruway. This newly created CDP represents some three hundred residents, living in about 120 residences. CDPs are meant to represent small unincorporated areas that have some population and are largely recognizable by some commonly shared local name. Often hamlets (which are not incorporated) such as Old Forge in the Town of Webb come to mind when we think of CDPs, but there are potentially hundreds in our region. The hamlet of Westmoreland was one of several that were promoted, as it were, to have CDP status during the last census in 2010. To see a map of the Westmoreland  CDP, or any of the regions CDPs, visit this previous post showing all the regional CDP maps.

What is the advantage of being a CDP? Well, the only true advantage is that census related data, especially data from the decennial census and the American Communities Survey (ACS), are provided for CDP geographies. Becoming a census designated place gives communities a platform for shouting "I'm a somebody!", at least in terms of now getting locally relevant data from the Census Bureau. Such data can be used potentially to "grow" and promote the community by local agencies and policy makers.


Below are links to the four basic profiles from the 2011 ACS Five Year Estimates for the newly formed Westmoreland CDP.

2011 ACS Five Year Estimates Demographic Profile: Westmoreland CDP
2011 ACS Five Year Estimates Social Profile: Westmoreland CDP
2011 ACS Five Year Estimates Economic Profile: Westmoreland CDP
2011 ACS Five Year Estimates Housing Profile: Westmoreland CDP