MARC > Creating Sustainable Places > Projects: Indicators

Creating Sustainable Places Indicators

Indicators and measurements tell the story about what we’ve accomplished and where we are headed. As part of the Creating Sustainable Places initiative, indicators will be used to track the region’s progress towards becoming more sustainable and help quantify whether or not our actions are truly creating a vibrant, connected and green region.

Indicators give everyone from policymakers to the public a common foundation to identify, understand and act on community issues. They help decision makers go beyond anecdotal evidence and answer questions: Are we growing in a way that is:

Structure: Actions, Places and Outcomes

The Creating Sustainable Places Indicators are structured to provide a clear link between quantitative measures and policy decisions. To do this, indicators are categorized on three levels: Actions, Places and Outcomes.

ACTIONS

IMPACTS ON PLACES

REGIONAL OUTCOMES

Measures actions promoted by Creating Sustainable Places. These are tangible actions that could be anything from construction of new affordable housing units to adoption of Complete Streets ordinances.

Measures the impact of
the actions on specific places or corridors. These are the characteristics and improvements our places need if they are to become more sustainable.

High-level indicators that measure whether we are meeting triple-bottom-line priorities. Are we taking actions that create places that are thriving — economically, Environmentally, and socially?

 

The impact a particular action has on a specific place and the outcome that from that impact can be quantified. Some examples:

ACTION

IMPACT

OUTCOME

Number of trees planted

Increase in tree canopy

Reduction in energy use

Number of units of
affordable housing built		 Increase in
demographic diversity		 Lower concentration
of poverty

 

MARC is currently working with the CSP Coordinating Committee and initiative partners to determine which specific measures will be quantified. Data will be shared through this web page to allow partners and the public to track specific indicators and drill down into varying geographies and levels of detail.