City hopes stats project will ID, prevent neighborhood trouble

From statistics on voter turnout to kindergarten readiness to pavement condition, every number tells part of a neighborhood's story -- where it has been, where it is now and where it's going. Now, the city of Madison will have the chance to put those pieces together in one location as part the Neighborhood Indicators Project, which will track more than 40 variables about each city neighborhood. City officials announced Friday the official launch of the project's Web site as well as information available on the first five neighborhoods of the project. The city hopes to have information on Madison's nearly 90 neighborhoods by 2009, provided funding is approved in this year's budget. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said the goal of the project is to serve as a warning system that will track statistics annually for each neighborhood and... [read full story]