Case Study: Fannie Mae Foundation
Fannie Mae Foundation’s DataPlace™ helps policymakers, affordable housing practitioners and the general public to understand the dynamics of local neighborhoods. DataPlace provides free access to interactive maps, charts, and various other analytic tools for more than 1,200 variables describing neighborhood-level conditions for any area in the United States.
 
Other Case Studies
Fannie Mae Foundation
San Diego Workforce Partnership Entertainment Economy Institute NKCA and UCLA
The Opportunity
User feedback on Fannie Mae Foundation’s KnowledgePlex® revealed a demand among KnowledgePlex users for timely and accurate information related to conditions in the communities in which they live and work. The Foundation turned to the team at Placebase, Vinq, and the Urban Institute to help design and develop a powerful free set of online tools for exploring neighborhood-level conditions across the USA.
 
The Solution
Placebase and Vinq took an integrated approach to extending the KnowledgePlex platform, using open source platforms to develop new data retrieval tools and geospatial technologies. DataPlace lets users easily create custom maps, charts, tables, and editorially selected sets of indicators. DataPlace already provides more than 1,200 indicators developed by the Urban Institute, with nationwide coverage including data for over 200,000 distinct locations. It is the first Community Indicator System that is truly nationwide in scope. DataPlace is changing the way that people develop an understanding of places and neighborhoods.
Click here to try DataPlace
 
Technologies
The DataPlace application uses a variety of technologies, including:

  • Mapserver and PostGIS
  • PostgreSQL
  • Apache
  • Perl / Mason
  • Javascript, AJAX
The platform also provides easy importation of new datasets in comma-delimited format, and a variety of administrative tools for management of indicator data.
Learn more about our technologies