Census 2020 Microsite

[mateoclarke]

What problem are you trying to solve?

The census only happens once every 10 years. The accuracy of the count effects newly drawn election maps and the amount of federal funding that Travis County receives. How might we utilize web design and open data to support a Census 2020 "Complete Count" campaign?

Phase 1 - Microsite

Census 2020 is only a couple months away and we don't have much time. We've been recruited to stand up a very basic campaign microsite to educate and coordinate efforts to get everyone in Austin & Travis County counted.

Phase 2 - Data Viz

Through 2020, teams of Census block captains will partner with civic institutions and community organizations to get people counted. Some communities are known to be statistically undercounted. These census campaigners could use data to target their efforts using data made available by the Census. We could design an algorithm that calculates how much a neighborhood or census block is "at risk" of being undercounted based on demographics, displacement trends, and other open data.

Who will benefit (directly and indirectly) from your project?

• Travis County Census Coordinator, John Lawler
• City of Austin Public Information Office, Tara Olsen
• Community orgs supporting the Census 2020 count effort
• Residents of Austin & Travis County

What other resources/tools are currently serving the same need? How does your project set itself apart?

• https://www.traviscountytx.gov/census2020/our-partners
• https://www.traviscountytx.gov/intergovernmental-relations/census2020

Where can we find any research/data available/articles?

• https://www.statesman.com/news/20190927/austin-travis-county-invest-600k-for-outreach-for-2020-census
• https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2019/08/travis-county-city-of-austin-ramp-up-census-efforts/
• https://communityimpact.com/austin/central-austin/city-county/2019/07/30/travis-county-staff-introduces-new-census-program-manager-ahead-of-2020-count/
• https://www.kxan.com/news/new-census-offices-set-to-open-thursday-local-efforts-underway/
• https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2019/07/30/new-census-program-manager-tasked-with-ensuring-participation-

What help do you need now?

• Web design
• Content writing/editing
• Digital campaign content
• Static site generator/JAM Stack web development

What are the next steps (validation, research, coding, design)?

• prototype of information hierarchy (content)
• content editing UX (tech architecture)
• custom theme (web design)

How can we contact you outside of Github(list social media or places you're present)?

Open Austin Slack
slack.open-austin.org

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