Purchasing Power, Business Activity, and Workforce Density By Zip Codes

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Employment and Training Institute provides comparison data on purchasing power, business activity and workforce density for all residential ZIP codes and the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S. The profiles are designed to help cities, businesses, developers, and organizations assess the advantages of urban density for underserved city neighborhoods.it is a pretty simple process to type in your zip code and then get a nice summary of all three of these aspects of any given zip code. The main problem with this data at the moment is it has NOT been updated to the most recent census data - it was created largely using the Census 2000 information.

While this is a drawback, the site nonetheless is unique and provides quite a bit of insight to an area's economic strengths. For example, here is a print out of just one of the tables that they provide, in this case for the Herkimer zip code (13350). 

As you can see it provides annual expenditures on purchases as well as expenditures per square mile within the zip code area for a list of 16 different types of purchases. These 16 are defined as follows:

FOOD AT HOME

includes expenditures for food purchased at grocery stores and convenience stores, and food prepared at home for out-of-town trips.

FOOD AWAY FROM HOME

includes expenditures for meals at restaurants, carry-out orders, food purchased on out-of-town trips, school lunches, and meals as pay.

APPAREL AND RELATED SERVICES

includes expenditures clothing (suits, coats, sweaters, shirts, skirts, nightware, undergarments, hosiery, uniforms, costumes, etc.), accessories, footwear, material for making clothes, watches, jewelry, shoe repair, laundry and dry cleaning costs, and clothing storage.

TELEVISION EQUIPMENT, TAPES AND DISCS

includes expenditures for TVs, VCRs and video disc players; video cassettes, tapes and discs; video game hardware and software; cable and satellite service; repairs of TVs, radio and sound equipment; and rental of televisions.

AUDIO EQUIPMENT, CDs, AND TAPES

includes expenditures for radios; tape recorders and players; sound components and component systems; records, CDs, audio tapes, and needles; record, tape, CD and video mail order clubs; musical instruments; accessories and other sound equipment; satellite dishes; and rental of above equipment.

HOUSEHOLD TEXTILES

includes expenditures for bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and dining room linens; curtains and draperies; slipcovers and decorative pillows; sewing materials for the home.

FURNITURE

includes expenditures for mattresses and springs; sofas; living room tables and chairs; kitchen and dining room furniture; infants' furniture; outdoor furniture; wall units, cabinets and other occasional furniture.

FLOOR COVERINGS

includes expenditures for wall-to-wall carpeting (for renters and homeowners) and non-permanent floor coverings.

MAJOR APPLIANCES

includes expenditures for dishwashers, garbage disposals, refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, clothes dryers, cooking stoves, microwave ovens, air conditioners; floor cleaning equipment, and sewing machines.

SMALL APPLIANCES AND HOUSEWARES

includes expenditures for china, dinnerware, flatware, glassware, serving pieces, small electric kitchen appliances, and portable heating and cooling equipment.

COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

includes expenditures for computers, computer hardware, computer software and accessories, for nonbusiness use.

MISCELLANEOUS HOUSEHOLD EQUIPMENT

includes expenditures for window coverings, infants' equipment, outdoor equipment, clocks, lamps and lighting fixtures; other household decorative items; telephones and accessories; lawn and garden equipment; power tools; hand tools; plants and fresh flowers; closet and storage items; rental of furniture; and luggage.

NON-PRESCRIPTION DRUGS AND SUPPLIES

includes expenditures for non- prescription drugs, non-prescription vitamins, eyeglasses and contact lenses, topicals and dressings, medical equipment for general use, supportive and convalescent medical equipment, and rental and repair of medical equipment.

HOUSEKEEPING SUPPLIES

includes expenditures for laundry and cleaning supplies, cleansing and toilet tissue, paper towels and napkins, miscellaneous household products, and lawn and garden supplies.

PERSONAL PRODUCTS

includes expenditures for hair care products, nonelectric articles for the hair, wigs and hairpieces, oral hygiene products and articles, shaving needs, cosmetics, perfume, bath preparation products, deodorants, feminine hygiene articles, and miscellaneous personal care items.

HOME REPAIR COMMODITIES

includes expenditures for paints; wallpapers; electrical supplies for heating and cooling equipment; materials for hard surface flooring, repair and replacement; materials and equipment for roof and gutters; materials for plastering, paneling, siding, windows, doors, screens, awnings; materials for patios, walks, fences, driveways, brick, masonry and stucco work; materials for landscaping maintenance; materials to finish basements, remodel rooms, or build patios, walks, etc.

A visit to their methodology page is worth it if you want to fully understand not only how they defined these purchases but also how they then measured purchasing power, etc. In the meantime, feel free to visit the site and punch in your local zip code and see how it compares to others in your surrounding area - just remember that these are OLD data sets. If new ones become available I will be sure to post about it !

Check Twice for Motorcycles !

Of the more than 5,300 motorcycle accidents in New York State in 2011 (the latest year for which data is available) about 55% of these crashes involved the motorcycle with another vehicle. The New York State DOT offers a number of tips about safe motorcycling for operators of a motorcycles as well as for making other drivers aware of cyclists on the road. Each piece of this equation has important things to consider.


Motorcycle riders need to:

• Remember that motorists often have trouble seeing motorcycles and reacting in time.
• Be aware of blind spots, especially around large trucks.
• Watch for potholes, ruts and any other irregular riding surface. Even with constant remedial effort, potholes will present themselves.
• Work zones require an increased awareness of potential hazards.

While all motorists need to:

• Be alert and aware.
• Drive defensively.
• Look twice to prevent violating the right of way of motorcyclists, pedestrians, and cars.

To promote motorcycle safety the following strategies from the NYS Comprehensive Highway Safety Plan are being implemented:

1. Reduce impaired driving. The STOP-DWI Program is directed at reducing the number of impaired drivers operating all types of vehicles on New York's roadways.
2. Reduce motorcycle fatalities resulting from errors by other drivers. Education and public information is aimed at heightening the awareness of all motorists to the presence of motorcycles on the road.
3. Increase motorcycle rider education for novice and experienced riders. In 1997, New York established a rider-funded safety education program called the Motorcycle Safety Program (MSP).
4. Increase safety through design, operation, and maintenance practices. This includes safety considerations during construction for milled pavement surfaces and signs for skewed railroad grade crossings where the angle between the roadway and track is less than 30 degrees.

 So remember: "CHECK TWICE - SAVE A LIFE!"

Thematic Maps Available Through Cornell's Program on Applied Demographics

The Program on Applied Demographics at Cornell University has a great maps page if you're looking for some thematic mapping of the whole state by county. By visiting their maps page you can select a theme (or metric as they prefer to say) to see mapped out by county for the entire state of New York  So for example if you were looking for a feel for what the median age of the population living in each county was, you could select the "metric" on median age and then get the map to show that particular characteristic on a state wide map. It would look like this:

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Mappable metrics include:

Feel free to explore the PAD site. They do some great things with Census data there !

Elderly Americans and Lower Life Evaluations: Apparently Your Happiness IS Relative(s)

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, elderly Americans who live with people under the age of 18 have lower life evaluations than those who do not. They experience worse emotional outcomes (including less happiness and enjoyment) and more stress, worry, and anger than other Americans. In part, these negative evaluations of their lives come from living with a child, especially the feeling that their health is poorer as a result of living with younger children.

Even with controls, the elderly who live with children do worse on many life evaluation categories. This is in sharp contrast to younger adults who live with children, likely their own, whose life evaluation is no different in the presence of the child once background conditions are controlled for. Parents, like elders, have enhanced negative emotions in the presence of a child, but unlike elders, also have enhanced positive emotions.

A while back I posted information about what is was to be a grandparent in Herkimer and Oneida Counties. This post includes a data link that shows how many grandparents live with grandchildren and provide care for them!

Regional Flooding 2013: Flood Statistics from the National Flood Insurance Program

Click to See Flood Statistics

According to FloodSmart.gov flooding is the number one most common disaster in the United States. Our area has been recent hit with wide spread flood so no one is probably more aware of this devastation than the Herkimer and Oneida Counties region. Among the many things you have to deal with are the loss of important records and paper work. Kent Stuetz of the NYS Archives offers the following recommendations when ti comes to keeping those important financial and personal records dry. As he recently wrote:

"We have experienced a lot of rain in the past month and unfortunately some flooding in CNY. Most of you did not have records destroyed by flooding, but there is a universal risk that all of us are currently exposed to . . . mold and other fungi. Thus, the essentials of dehumidification which follows.
Please take a moment to check your basement records storage areas today and make sure that you have not experienced any flooding and that your dehumidifier is functioning properly. It is really a good idea that your dehumidifier is plumbed for ongoing drainage rather than you having to empty the accumulated water manually.
One would think in these very wet conditions that you would want to crank up your dehumidifier to a higher setting to drain the swamp so to speak. Nothing could be further from the truth. When a dehumidifier is turned up to a high setting, it will actually pull moisture from outside your records storage room through the walls and floor. The extremely dry air inside your storage room will act as a wick and will suck in moisture. Also, a dehumidifier running on high will create a lot of extra heat in your storage area, inviting mold like a tornado a mobile home park. If your dehumidifier has settings 0-9 for example, I personally would set it at 3 and forget it (as long as it is plumbed for self drainage).
Set the dehumidifier's FAN only to a high setting or get a new little box fan to circulate the air in your storage area nicely. This will go a long way to keep the air moving and remove pockets of moist air.
These basic steps will save you A LOT of grief if followed as there is almost nothing worse than a basement full of moldy, fungi covered records. "

Below you can see some pictures of the recent flooding in Herkimer, which took place at my house and in my neighborhood.

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