Reimagining the Civic Commons, in collaboration with learning partners, City Observatory and Interface Studio and local teams, has designed a measurement system to capture the multi-faceted value of reinvesting in civic assets.

The data collection process developed takes us into the public places and the neighborhoods nearby to understand how visitors are interacting with each place—and how the place is supporting a more engaged, equitable, sustainable and economically vibrant community. Alongside survey tools and observation maps, we also use publicly available data and in-depth analyses to evaluate the changes over time.

The baseline metrics reports for Akron, Chicago, Detroit and Memphis reveal the existing conditions in each city at the beginning of the three-year initiative. Teams will return in future seasons to collect measures that will be reported against this baseline to assess change over time. The appendices of each report share the methodology employed.