We should all "Explore Sarasota County"

A couple of days ago SCOPE held a data class at the Community Foundation of Sarasota County's Nonprofit Resource Center. As part of the class, we held a panel discussion with some of the organizations that produce and use local data. Scott Moore from the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County was part of that discussion, and he showed us a great new data tool that Sarasota County Government has just finished developing.

It's called Explore Sarasota County, and you can find it here.

The program allows you to input your (or someone else's) address and find out demographic and business information about the surrounding area. It includes 2005 population data as well as projections for 2010. It also maps out the locations of businesses in your area.

It is really interesting to be able to get data on such a small level and be able to compare your observations and assumptions about your own neighborhood to 'the numbers.'

Since it is a new tool, I've included a tutorial on how to use it below.

I hope that you enjoy it!



Tutorial:

1. Go to www.exploresarasotacounty.com
2. On the right side of the screen there is a "search by address" box
3. Type in an address. If the address is in a city, be sure to choose it from the drop down menu. 4. Click the "Search by address" button. (A map of your area should appear after you do this)
5. Click on the orange tab marked "demographics"
6. Choose a radius and click "calculate." (it's set to 5 miles, but you can change that)
7. You should then see (on the right side) a detailed demographics report.

If you would like information on the businesses in the area:
follow steps 1 - 4. Then, in step 5, click on the orange "businesses" tab and follow steps 6 and 7. You'll be able to see the businesses in the area by type and location. You can also click on a type of business to get a listing of individual businesses within that category.