Planning & Land Use

Replacing the decennial census "long form" this annual survey provides detailed data on the population, including income, education, race, sex, living situations, disabilities, and much more.

Primary Census tool for exploring the decennial census, American Community Survey, and economic censuses.

Quick Facts will give a demographic, economic and social overview of a state, county, or city. CenStats pulls together some often requested data collected by the Census.

Demographic and housing information by county.

Interactive Maps and Reports provide easy access to demographic information about the United States. Data comes from the Census beginning in 1940 and from the Religious Congregations and Membership Study beginning in 1980.
Social Explorer contains much the same information as American Factfinder and is much easier to use.

Use the "Subject Areas" drop down to find information on the Consumer Price Index, American Time Use Survey, workplace injuries, unemployment and more. You can download some data. Their beta Geographic Home Page pulls together information by state.

Much more than the unemployment rate.

A Local Employment Data Mapping program that will let you input whatever geographical area you want, and it will give you employment data for the people who live and work there. All the data can be downloaded for SPSS, etc. as well as for GIS. Includes user-friendly interface and usable help. See also the other Data Tools on the LED page.

"County Business Patterns (CBP) is an annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. This series includes the number of establishments, employment during the week of March 12, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll. This data is useful for studying the economic activity of small areas; analyzing economic changes over time; and as a benchmark for other statistical series, surveys, and databases between economic censuses. Businesses use the data for analyzing market potential, measuring the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs, setting sales quotas, and developing budgets. Government agencies use the data for administration and planning."

"The mission of the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities is to create strong, sustainable communities by connecting housing to jobs, fostering local innovation, and helping to build a clean energy economy." Resources include webinars, articles, and grant information.

Page links to many Commerce Department statistics on housing. The Commerce Dept. A-Z listing for Housing is also a good place to start. Side bar contains information on other aspects, such as building and building permits.

Online library of publications from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as well as other resources.
See particularly the Cities/Communities bookshelf.

TRID is a newly integrated database that combines the records from TRB's Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) Database and the OECD's Joint Transport Research Centre’s International Transport Research Documentation (ITRD) Database. TRID provides access to over 940,000 records of transportation research worldwide.

The U.S. Department of Transportation offers grants to better integrate transportation into neighborhoods and communities.

The HEP (Highway Planning) Office includes many links to transportation and planning resources. Included are such tools and resources as the Forecasting Land Use Activities Webinar Series and the Tool Kit for Integrating Land Use and Transportation Decision-Making.

DoE's home page has a couple of energy calculators - "How Much Do You Spend?" and "How Much Do You Use?" There's also a "Find out about your Community?" which includes energy tax breaks, grants and other information.

EPA is the agency with primary responsibility for protecting our environment. It provides a number of specific tools for investigating and monitoring specific pollutants and dangers. A few of these tools are listed separately on this guide, but many more are available at EPA's website. The "My Environment" search on the home page offers a variety of environmental information by zip code. A Facility Search ("More Searches" under "MyEnvironment") offers even more data by zip code. Click on "More Topics" to see an A-Z list of topics, such as Green Building.

"TRI is a database containing data on disposal or other releases of over 650 toxic chemicals from thousands of U.S. facilities and information about how facilities manage those chemicals through recycling, energy recovery, and treatment." A zip code search is available on this page. The Data & Tools provides a number of ways to research the TRI data.

One of the specific hazards regulated by EPA. Individual states have primary authority over USTs. The site includes a Where You Live tool that provides information on state programs and contacts.

Information on Superfund sites and cleanup. A Superfund search is available. In addition to Superfund sites it list some non-Superfund cleanup efforts.

Both the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service are a part of Interior. The NPS oversees a Historic Preservation Planning Program. BLS oversees management of public lands, particularly in the west, for energy, grazing, recreation, rights-of-way, and other public uses.

Portal for GeoSpatial data to the county level for land use, elevation, conservation easements, etc.

"Food deserts are defined as urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food." The USDA is working to identify and assist these areas. Their Food Desert Locator Tool maps and provides economic and demographic information for known "food deserts."

The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program was conceived in 1929 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police to meet a need for reliable, uniform crime statistics for the nation. In 1930, the FBI was tasked with collecting, publishing, and archiving those statistics. Today, several annual statistical publications, such as the comprehensive Crime in the United States, are produced from data provided by nearly 17,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States.
See Table 4 for City & County data.

The NCES offers many data tools and resources, including State and District Profiles, the Digest of Education Statistics, and many surveys containing data and statistics at all educational levels.

Finding aid for statistics produced by the U.S. Government. Search by topic, agency, or geographic region.

Information all grants and other funding opportunities available from the federal government. Clink on "Find Grant Opportunities" to search, browse by category, and browse by agency.

Find out about new federal regulations that might affect planning activities.

State governments can also be involved in land use and planning issues. For instance, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership site includes Community Profiles and a Site Selection tool.

Land use and, especially, zoning are handled at the local level.

Search for residential property values (homes and land) for Charlottesville by address or name. Includes the C'ville GIS mapping feature. From the City Assessor's Office. Search for the same information in the Albemarle County database

Zoning and planning in C'ville fall under this area.

Includes resources like the Virginia Traffic Data

Find out about new Virginia regulations.

The Cooper Center is well known for its statistical analysis of Virginia's population, labor force, economic climate, etc. See their Research & Analysis page.

Regional agency overseeing planning for Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, and Nelson counties.