Web Watch: Relocation information

Clicking on the Web... In 1975, the Federal Communications Commission deregulated citizens band radios, and CB radios quickly became the rage. Highway travel took on a new dimension as drivers could ask for advice as they passed through unknown territory by saying, "Break 1-9 for local information." Finding a knowledgeable "good buddy" could lead to a good restaurant recommendation or a shortcut through traffic.

In a society that is increasingly mobile, with families relocating because of corporate transfers, employment opportunities, or retirements, people need more than just restaurant recommendations. New and potential residents seek information about educational systems; police, fire, and library services; cultural resources; the environment; healthcare; and much more. Libraries have long collected such information in print, often housed in the vertical file at the reference desk. But today's web can serve as a "good buddy" and supplement these collections through authoritative sites.

FirstGov is an enormous portal described in a previous WebWatch (LJ 10/1/02, p. 32). The portal has three major gateways, one of which, the Citizen Gateway, contains two useful web sites for local information: Locate In-Person Services Near You and Facts and Figures About Your Community. Both are available through prominent links on the Citizen Gateway homepage.

In-Person Services provides an alphabetical list of topics, over 70, each with a brief sentence that explains what clicking on the topic will provide. Topics range from Child Care to Dialysis Facility Compare, from Farmers Markets Near You to Public Health Clinics. Clicking on a topic brings the researcher directly to a government web site, often the search page for a database. Doctor, Dentist and Healthcare links to the National Library of Medicine/MEDLINE Plus directory, with easy searching by city, state, or zip code. Apartments links to the Department of Housing and Urban Development Renter's Kit with general guidelines on legal rights, budgets, and links to local HUD housing counseling offices; well-organized and updated state HUD pages are grouped under the Local Information link at the top of the page. Farmers Markets Near You presents a map of the United States on the Department of Agriculture's web site; clicking on a state supplies a PDF of the markets in that state, organized by city.

In-Person Services has a search feature that allows choices of federal sites, state sites, or both. The advanced search allows a standard keyword search (all the words, any of the words, or the exact phrase) in a particular language. In addition, results can be refined by words that should be included, must be included, or must not be included in the text, title, or the URL.

Facts and Figures About Your Community uses the power of the federal government's statistics to provide local information. Where one would have spent a long time with Statistical Abstracts of the United States and other publications, Facts and Figures provides 11 general categories (e.g., Agriculture & Food, Learning & Jobs) that can be searched by state, county, metropolitan area, or local region. The Business & Economy section contains statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of Economic Analysis. The Census FactFinder provides step-by-step construction of maps or tables of detailed data to the city level. Learning & Jobs has dropout rates for high schools, reading levels by community, national and state scorecards on educational performance, and much more.

The Bottom Line: FirstGov Citizen Gateway takes the wealth of government information about local communities, reconfigures it, and makes it accessible. This is the first stop for anyone wishing to research community information.

State and Local Government on the Net is a directory of links to government-sponsored and -controlled resources on the Internet. It has been maintained by Piper Resources, an Internet publishing company, for over five years. The site is free of advertising. Most content was updated within the last month; the date of each state's last update is clearly posted. The site lists information in a clear, logical, but unadorned fashion. The first page provides a list of states, followed by links to federal resources, multistate sites, and a long list of national organizations (National League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors). Clicking on a state opens a page that includes links to the state homepage; state directory; statewide offices; legislative, judicial, and executive offices; boards and commissions; and links to regional, county, city, and town web sites.

The content on the web sites varies greatly from state to state, but the movement toward e-government is forcing more information and more functions to the Internet. The Maryland Transit Administration's web site, for example, includes maps and schedules for local and commuter bus lines, light rail, subways, and even neighborhood shuttle services. Washington State Parks provides information on parks searchable by region and an online reservation form to book stays.

City and town web sites are also inconsistent but potentially rich sources of information. They typically include a community profile, information for business relocation, tourist information, and the transcripts of local government sessions—dull, perhaps, but useful for insight into local issues.

The Bottom Line: State and Local Government on the Net connects researchers to local, government-sponsored web sites with ease.

Yahoo's familiar interface has not changed since it came on the scene as one of the first web directories. Its Get Local City Guides provides a mix of governmental, not-for-profit, and commercial sites. The opening page includes a search box (enter city, state, or zip code), a list of states, and on the left a list of major metropolitan areas. Clicking a state opens a page with sites organized by cities, metropolitan areas, counties, and regions as well as topics such as arts and humanities and news and media. Each topic lists the number of web sites it contains.

From the Massachusetts page we clicked on cities to locate Northhampton, which included 106 web sites for business and shopping, three links to local real estate agencies, the web sites for local schools, a link to the local paper, and much more. Searching by zip code brings up the same information plus maps and Yahoo's extensive commercial information (local hotels, restaurants, car rentals).

Google now provides Yahoo's search technology, and on every state page there is an option to search the web, the local directory, or news. The results of the Massachusetts public school achievement tests were found from a state government site as well as in a number of newspapers.

The Bottom Line: The information at Yahoo Get Local City Guides is not always official, but for a quick lookup, it can be useful. Combining commercial and government information can provide a more complete picture of a community.

Environmental Protection Administration Where You Live
www.epa.gov/epahome/commsearch.htm
Scorecard
www.scorecard.org
Environmental information is often buried in larger portals. These two sites allow you to search by zip code, which is about as local as it gets. The U.S. Environmental Protection Administration's Where You Live page provides four databases. Envirofacts gives pollution, hazardous waste sites, and other regulatory information; EnviroMapper offers "live" and customizable computer-generated maps of regulated sites throughout the United States; Surf Your Watershed reports environmental conditions and activities in watersheds nationwide; and UV Index is a daily ultraviolet Index Forecast. Scorecard is a huge statistical site provided by Environmental Defense, a not-for-profit environmental advocacy organization. Searches reveal data in hazardous air pollutants, land contamination, animal waste from factory farms, clean water act status, and much more. Graphs and charts compare counties and hyperlink back to names and addresses of polluters. This site enables researchers to collect a great deal of information quickly.

Community Information by Zip Code
library.csun.edu/mfinley/zipstats.html
Got a zip code? Then this site can unlock a wealth of local information. The librarians at California State University at Northridge have created a site with links to scores of databases that are all searchable by zip code. Includes content on people and households, education, health, environment, business, and politics with an emphasis on California. Frequently updated.

Internet Public Library: Newspapers
ipl.org/div/news
Online newspapers give the flavor of a region in a way that uniform pages from official sources cannot. The Internet Public Library Newspapers page is a comprehensive national and international gateway to newspapers—excellent sources of local up-to-date news, leisure activities, classified advertising, and employment. Newspapers are arranged alphabetically by world regions, with the United States last. Each state has a gateway page with cities or regions listed alphabetically. It would be helpful if there were a state map showing the location of the listed cities. Newspaper listings give language, frequency, and a link to the web site.

Rate My Teachers
www.ratemyteachers.com
Want more than just statistics on a local school? This is the current favorite of middle and high school students, but parents and educators may also find it useful. Students rate their teachers on easiness, helpfulness, and clarity, adding brief and brutally honest comments. Each school has a student administrator responsible for reading the anonymous submissions. Searching is by school name or state. According to the company profile, the site owners are educators who began the site in August 2001; there are currently over a million ratings.

Yahoo Real Estate Neighborhood Profile
list.realestate.yahoo.com/re/neighborhood/main.html
Searchable through either street address or zip code (or browsable by state), this part of the Yahoo real estate portal provides quick access to demographics, cost of living, and quality of life factors. With links to compare home sales, search for homes in the neighborhood, and view a map. Heavily commercial.

Weather Channel
www.weather.com
Whether considering a move or just visiting, the weather is one of the most important local facts worth knowing. To find local forecasts, simply enter a city or zip code in the search box and choose weather related to driving, events, golf, health, home and garden, and more. The targeted health forecast gives air quality, allergies, and skin protection. With extensive advertising.