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July/August 2002
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Don't Be Afraid of the Data
There are three kinds of lies, according to 19th Century British
Statesman and Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli: lies, damned lies,
and statistics.
While some may wholeheartedly agree with the statesman's comment,
others counter that statistics are quite useful. After all, they
argue, statistics help us to describe our communities, compare
our community with others and identify emerging trends.
To support the notion that statistics are useful and necessary
tools, and to help those who may not be as familiar with gathering
and using data as they would like, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania
has developed a data users guide, called Stats for Scaredy-Cats,
A How-To Guide for Rural Data Users.
The guide, geared for the novice data user or those who would
like a quick reminder course in gathering and using data, is now
available from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.
Numbers are our friends
The Center for Rural Pennsylvania receives almost daily requests
from grant writers, government officials and employees, businesses,
and the general public for data and statistics about rural Pennsylvania
and specific counties, municipalities and places.
At times, some of these folks aren't sure what to make of the
data they have gathered or how they can apply the data to the
project they are working on. This is where the guide may help.
The guide is separated into three sections: understanding data,
working with data and gathering data. The first section offers
definitions, an explanation of the various codes used by government
and other agencies, and of data limitations.
To help users understand how they may work with the data, the
guide offers details on comparing variables and time periods,
and finally offers advice on choosing data formats.
Eagerly awaiting the data
Stats for Scaredy-Cats was developed with the 2000 Census in mind.
With all of the new data that has been released, and the data
yet to come, the Center wanted to offer data users a type of "cheat-sheet"
for working with all of the new information.
Some of the most interesting facts, at least in the eyes of rural
Pennsylvanians, are soon to hit the streets. The socio-economic
data is due to be released later this summer, which means that
the Census Bureau will publish urban and rural information for
every Census geography. Individuals will then be able to look
up what percentage of any defined area is urban and what percentage
is rural.
Remember that since urban areas do not necessarily follow municipal
or other legal or statistical boundaries, geographic entities
- Census tracts, counties, metropolitan areas, and the area outside
metropolitan areas - will often contain both urban and rural territory,
population, and housing units.
After the 1990 Census, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania created
a system of designating an entire geographic entity, like a county
or municipality, as rural or urban. Currently, the criteria states
that if more than 50 percent of the population is rural, according
to the Census, the area is considered rural. Like wise, if more
than 50 percent is urban, it is called urban. Based on these criteria
and the 1990 Census data, nearly 72 percent of Pennsylvania's
municipalities are considered rural, as well as 42 of its 67 counties.
Now that the Census Bureau's rural and urban definitions are
changing, so may the Center's manner of designating a geographic
entity.
Let's talk rural
In October, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania will host a series
of half-day discussions around the state to gather input from
data users to most accurately determine a system of applying rural
and urban designations. The measures for such designations will
be simple and will attempt to show a true picture of the state's
rural areas. Criteria may include total population, population
density, metro/ non-metro status and other factors.
So far, the Center has identified six locations for the discussions:
Harrisburg, Lock Haven, Franklin, Towanda, Greensburg and a site
in Southeast Pennsylvania.
Center for Rural Pennsylvania Board Treasurer Senator Mary Jo
White, and Board members Representative Mike Hanna and Dr. Craig
Willis will be the hosts at the Franklin, Venango County and Lock
Haven, Clinton County sites, respectively. See the box below for
dates, sites and times.
Rural Discussion Dates, Sites
October 8 - Harrisburg, Dauphin Co. 9 am - noon
October 10 - Franklin, Venango Co. 9 am - noon
October 11 - Lock Haven, Clinton Co. 2 pm - 5 pm
October 15 - Greensburg, Westmoreland Co. TBA
October 17 - Towanda, Bradford Co. 1 pm - 5 pm
October 25 - West Chester, Chester Co. 1 pm - 5 pm
The Center will announce more specific information, including
workshop times and locations on its website, at www.ruralpa.org,
and in the September/October issue of Rural Perspectives.
Want more info?
In the meantime, data users are encouraged to call the Center
for a copy of Stats for Scaredy Cats, A How-To Guide for Rural
Data Users at (717) 787-9555 or email info@ruralpa.org.
Chairman's Message
When I hear the word "statistics," I generally break
out in a cold sweat, remembering the college course by the same
name that caused me many long nights of study and confusion. When
lists and columns of numbers appear before us, they tend to cause
an involuntary reaction, whether verbal or physical, that indicate
extreme stress! Expressions of this automatic reflex syndrome
can include the glazing over of eyes, hair twisting, hand wringing,
grimaces, and shudders, accompanied by variations of the word
"yuck." Of course, there are exceptions to this rule
of nature, including my college roommate who majored in math.
But, for most of us, numbers, numbers, and more numbers add confusion
rather than clarity to an issue.
To help those of us who are numerically challenged, the Center
for Rural Pennsylvania has developed a guide to help people under-stand
numbers. This is especially important with the release of the
2000 Census and the soon-to-be-released socio-economic data. Since
the Center deals with numbers, and questions about numbers, every
day, we thought this guide could help everyone understand what
the numbers mean for their communities, how the numbers can be
used to tell a story about their region, or what the numbers can
possibly tell them about the future.
Stats for Scaredy-Cats: A How-To Guide for Rural Data Users
provides basic answers on gathering and understanding data. The
guide, high-lighted in our feature story, is de-signed to help
ease the apprehension people may have when working with numbers.
Contact us for your copy.
Big numbers were included in the Farm Security and Rural Investment
Act of 2002, the federal Farm Bill that was passed by Congress
and signed into law by President Bush in May. This act outlines
the federal government's priorities and programs for agriculture,
farm credit, nutrition assistance, conservation, rural development,
extension research/education, and other agricultural issues. Highlights
of the Farm Bill can be found on page 3 or by logging onto the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's website at www.usda.gov/farmbill/.
As the summer weather once again reminds us of the variability
in water supplies, the Pennsylvania General Assembly is joining
with other organizations in reviewing our Commonwealth's policies
on how to ensure sufficient supplies of quality water. A long-time
interest group on water issues is the League of Women Voters.
Through their Water Resources Education Network (WREN), the League
provides rural community groups with grant funds to educate residents
about surface and ground water in Pennsylvania. Learn more about
this successful program on page 5 of Rural Perspectives.
Summertime is the traditional time for family vacations. In Pennsylvania,
a number of agencies are working together to enhance and promote
heritage tourism. A strategic plan is in the works to bring together
our commonwealth's plans and goals for this important part of
our second largest industry. Read more about this task force on
page 4.
As you make plans for the fall, try to save one of the dates
for a half-day session to share information with the Center for
Rural Pennsylvania on the 2000 Census and how rural and urban
designations are being applied to our commonwealth's data. Turn
to page 3 for the dates and locations, and look for details in
our September/October issue of Rural Perspectives. Until then,
have a great summer and enjoy the wonders of Penn's Woods.
Representative Sheila Miller
Federal Farm Bill Becomes Law
In May, President George W. Bush signed into the law the Farm
Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. Better known as the
Farm Bill, this act outlines the federal government's priorities
and programs in the areas of agriculture, farm credit, nutrition
assistance, conservation, rural development, extension research/education,
and other agricultural issues. The provisions within this act
will remain in affect until the year 2007.
Among the more notable rural development provisions of the act
are:
-
Rural Strategic Investment Program: This new
$100 million program is designed to foster local strategic planning
and investment. This program also calls for a national conference
on Rural America.
-
Broadband Service in Rural Areas: Provides
grants and low interest loans to assist in the deployment of
high-speed telecommunications technology to rural areas.
- Rural Firefighters and Emergency Personnel Grants: Provides
scholarships to local governments to train firefighters and emergency
personnel to respond to accidents involving hazardous material.
There is also funding to establish training facilities.
-
SEARCH Grants for Small Communities: Each state
will receive $1million every year to assist small communities
with initial feasibility and environmental compliance for rural
development projects.
-
Multi-Jurisdiction Regional Planning Organizations:
Regional planning organizations will receive grants to pay for
the federal share of providing assistance to local governments
to improve the infrastructure, services, and business development
capabilities of local governments and local economic development
organizations.
- Rural Business Investment Program: New venture capital program
designed to combine federal funds with private and non-profit
funds to be invested in small rural businesses.
-
Funding of Pending Rural Development Loans
and Grant Applications: Up to $360 million to reduce the backlog
of pending water and sewage projects.
In addition to these programs, Congress authorized existing water
and sewage programs and provided funding for children's day care
facilities and Business and Industry Loan Programs. Congress also
established a program to assist in the restoration of historic
barns. Congress will need to appropriate the release of funds
for some of the programs created by the act.
For more information on the Farm Security and Rural Investment
Act, please go to the USDA website at www.usda.gov/farmbill/.
Heritage Tourism Planning Effort Takes Off
What began two years ago as an effort to bring greater focus and
attention to Pennsylvania heritage tourism has grown into a statewide
planning process with multiple state agencies, associations and
industry representatives supporting the cause. In the spring of
2000, more than 200 people attended a heritage tourism summit
held in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Tourism and Lodging
Association's Annual Conference in Monroeville. Over the summer
months of that year, four regional workshops were held to gather
further input for the initial planning phase. Those efforts resulted
in the May 2001 publication, Moving Heritage Tourism Forward in
Pennsylvania, which is a blueprint of how Pennsylvania can continue
its prominent role in national heritage tourism and how it may
further reap significant economic and quality of life benefits
through its number two industry.
The blueprint addresses seven major elements: identification
of Pennsylvania's heritage resources; strategies to promote preservation
and development of heritage resources; standards to guide preservation,
interpretation and development of visitor service infrastructure;
an aggressive regional marketing campaign; technical assistance
and training for heritage tourism organizations, sites, and practitioners;
business development opportunities; and a strong education and
awareness initiative.
With more than 2,500 copies of the document in distribution,
the reaction has been favorable and the momentum continues. In
late 2001, the state Departments of Community and Economic Development
and Conservation and Natural Resources, the Pennsylvania Historical
and Museum Commission, and the Center for Rural Pennsylvania,
the core partners, agreed to support the next phase of the strategic
plan by securing the services of an independent consultant to
take the blueprint and refine and develop it for actual implementation.
Additional partners, including the Westsylvania Heritage Development
Corporation, the Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Association and the
Pennsylvania Tourism and Lodging Association, guaranteed the process
could financially be undertaken and the group issued a call for
proposals.
Mary Means and Associates of Alexandria, VA, one of five applicants,
was selected as the planning consultant. Mary brings over 25 years
of professional experience in preservation, heritage development,
tourism, and strategic planning and has worked extensively in
Pennsylvania.
After an initial meeting with the funding partners in April 2002,
Mary and her team met with the newly formed Heritage Tourism Task
Force on May 29, 2002 in Harrisburg. The Task Force is comprised
of almost 50 people representing the tourism industry, museums,
heritage parks, arts and culture, tourist promotion agencies,
economic development, state and local governments, and the travel
and lodging industry.
From the Task Force meeting, the consultants are taking the original
seven major elements and making appropriate refinements and enhancements.
Key interviews with other stakeholders will provide additional
input for the preparation of a series of white papers to be presented
at regional workshops across the state. The Task Force will meet
again to establish a 10-year heritage tourism strategy. Additional
meetings with key state officials, along with regional meetings,
will lead to a final report and action plan for presentation in
February 2003.
The Pennsylvania Tourism and Lodging Association will offer information
through its website so that all documents are available for review
and comment. That phase of the public communication process will
be announced when it is finalized.
For more information about the Heritage Tourism Strategic Planning
Process, call Barry Denk, director of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania
and chairman of the project, at (717) 787-9555 or email denkb@ruralpa.org.
WREN Funds Community Water Education Projects
Community coalition groups from across the state have received
grant funds to carry out education projects in the coming year
by the League of Women Voters' Pennsylvania Water Resources Education
Network (WREN). WREN is a nonpartisan, informal collaboration
of organizations and public officials working for the protection
and management of Pennsylvania's surface and ground water resources
through education and informed policy making.
Funding for the Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Grants
comes from Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
for activities that will either address non-point source pollution
issues on a watershed basis or help protect sources of drinking
water.
The successful grantees and their grant awards and projects are
listed below.
Watershed Protection
-
Lackawaxen River Conservancy, Lackawanna, Pike
and Wayne counties - $5,000 to produce watershed education materials.
- Mifflin Co. Planning and Development Department - $1,500 to
hold a workshop on innovative stormwater management techniques.
- District Township EAC, Berks Co. - $4,000 to hold public forums,
produce newsletters and develop a webpage.
-
Bob's Creek Stream Guardians, Bedford, Blair
and Cambria counties - $2,700 to hold public meetings and develop
a volunteer monitoring program.
- Conemaugh Valley Conservancy, Armstrong, Somerset, Westmoreland,
Indiana and Cambia counties - $5,000 to develop a community outreach
project based on restaurant placemats.
- Elk Creek Watershed Assn., Chester Co. - $4,000 to design and
install watershed identification signs.
- Chartiers Creek Watershed Assn., Washington Co. - $4,600 to
develop educational materials based on their River Conservation
Plan.
- University of Sciences, Philadelphia - $3,800 to create a demonstration
landscape adjacent to Mill Creek.
- Lancaster Co. Conservation District - $5,000 to develop watershed
awareness education materials.
- Powell's and Armstrong Creeks Watershed Assn., Dauphin Co.
- $2,000 to promote community support for watershed planning.
- Berks Co. Conservation District - $3,400 to place stream identification
signs in the Maiden Creek Watershed and to develop outreach materials.
- Greene Co Watershed Alliance - $3,000 to develop and maintain
a website and distribute educational materials.
- Streets Run Watershed Assn., Allegheny Co. - $4,000 to develop
watershed awareness education materials.
- Juniata Clean Water Partnership, southcentral Pennsylvania
- $2,000 to develop a Watershed Resource Center at Juniata College.
Drinking Water Protection
For more information about the WREN Drinking Water and Watershed
Protection Grants, contact Sherene Hess, WREN Project Director
at (724) 465-4978 or email: sherenehess@yourinter.net.
Information about WREN is also available at http://pa.lwv.org/wren/.
Did You Know . . .
-
According to the 2000 Census, Pennsylvania
now has the third largest rural population in the nation with
2.8 million rural residents. Texas and North Carolina rank first
and second.
-
Nationally, Pennsylvania ranks 48 among the
50 states in the percent change in population between 1990-2000.
The commonwealth grew faster than West Virginia and North Dakota.
Despite the slow growth, Pennsylvania is the sixth most populated
state in the nation.
Update: Census 2000
Urbanized Areas and Urban Clusters
Not only does the Decennial Census give us data, it also gives
us urban and rural classifications so that we can analyze the
data for these very different groups of population. In the May/June
issue of Rural Perspectives, we looked at the new definitions,
and now we have some real numbers to plug in.
The Census Bureau recently released the names and populations
of all Urban Areas (both Urbanized Areas and Urban Clusters) in
the nation. This information will be coupled with the geographic
boundaries of each area and will be used to publish the percentage
of urban and rural numbers for any Census geography. These figures
will become available between June and September 2002 with the
release of the SF3 socio-economic data.
There are 22 Urbanized Areas in Pennsylvania compared to 20 after
the 1990 Census. Many Urbanized Areas encompass parts of more
than one state so several of the areas listed below are not Pennsylvania
places. The names in bold type are new Urbanized Areas for 2000.
There are 8.2 million residents in Pennsylvania's Urbanized Areas.
Pennsylvania's Urbanized Areas
Allentown/Bethlehem
Altoona
Binghamton
Erie
Hagerstown
Harrisburg
Hazleton
Johnstown
Lancaster
Lebanon
Monessen
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Pottstown
Reading
Scranton
State College
Uniontown/Connellsville
Weirton/Steubenville
Williamsport
York
Youngstown
There are 120 Urban Clusters in Pennsylvania from A (Albion)
to Z (Zelienople), which are home to 1.25 million residents. The
populations that do not live in Urban Areas are considered rural.
The commonwealth's 2.8 million rural residents now rank the state
third in the nation for total rural population, after Texas and
North Carolina. The next Census information release we'll be looking
for is the complete socio-economic sample data (the SF3 file)
due out between June and September 2002.
For more Census 2000 information, visit the U.S. Census Bureau's
website at www.census.gov
or call the Center for Rural Pennsylvania at (717) 787-9555.
The Center of It All
Where is the center of Pennsylvania according to population? Let's
use our imagination to answer that question… Imagine that
Pennsylvania is a flat map and an identical weight is placed at
the residence of every person in Pennsylvania. The map we see
would balance somewhere in the middle of Miller Township in Perry
County. The United States Census Bureau calls this point the "mean
center of population." (See map below.)
This is different than the median center point, which is where
half of the population lives north and half lives south, as well
as half living east and half living west. The median point is
less telling because, for example, the entire population of Philadelphia
could move to Harrisburg and the point would not change since
that population would still be in the southeast quadrant. The
mean point or "balance" point would certainly move quite
a bit, however.
To learn how the mean center of population has changed in Pennsylvania
over the years, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania collected data
and calculated movements based on information drawn from five
decennial censuses. We found that, while the point didn't move
far between 1950 and 2000, it did follow a general southeast pattern.
By the way, in case you're wondering: the Census Bureau published
the latitude and longitude of the center population point of the
nation, which is in northern Davies County, Indiana.
Just the Facts: Diplomas in Hand
Educational attainment rates in rural Pennsylvania are improving.
According to the 2000 Census, which recorded the highest level
of education attainment for persons 25 years old and older, the
percentage of rural residents without a high school diploma has
fallen steadily since 1980.
From 1980 to 2000, this percentage has dropped by almost one-fifth
from 38 percent to 20 percent. More than 800,000 rural Pennsylvanians
had a high school diploma as the highest form of education achieved
in 2000, a 28 percent change from 1980.
The percentage of the adult rural population that reported having
a bachelor's degree increased from 7 percent in 1990 to more than
9 percent in 2000.
Finally, rural residents with four or more years of college increased
markedly. Between 1980 and 2000, the number of rural residents
that had attained this level of education increased more than
90 percent. The percentage of rural Pennsylvanians with four or
more years of college grew from 9 percent in 1980 to more than
14 percent in 2000.
Pennsylvania's rural counties are also seeing a drop in the numbers
of those without a high school diploma or its equivalent. In 2000,
approximately 350,000 of rural residents age 25 years and older
did not have a high school diploma or its equivalent, down 8 percentage
points since 1990.
Statewide, almost 1.5 million residents age 25 years or older,
or 18 percent of Pennsylvanians, have not received a high school
diploma or its equivalent.
Calling on all Businesses to Participate in
the Economic Census
You know all that great information you can get from the Center
for Rural Pennsylvania and other sources about business and industry
in the nation, states, and counties? Much of that data comes from
the Economic Census conducted by the Census Bureau every five
years. The next Economic Census is the 2002, which will be conducted
in 2003 to provide statistics on the year 2002. Be sure to watch
for and fill out the questionnaire so that the data the world
gets from that census is as complete and accurate as possible.
Don't worry, as in every Census Bureau survey, all individual
responses are confidential. To learn more about or to get data
from the Economic Census or another Census Bureau survey, contact
the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.
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