Parks, libraries, community centers and trails can connect people of all backgrounds, cultivate trust and counter the trends of economic and social fragmentation—yet continued investment and attention to these public places relies on our ability to measure that impact.

Measure What Matters is a DIY toolkit, developed in partnership with Interface Studio, for those interested in capturing and quantifying the beneficial social impacts of a city’s public places.

There are five tools available for download: a Site Intercept Survey, which guides the collection of information from people through interviews about their perceptions of a particular space, demographic data and how a public place impacts the surrounding neighborhood; a Neighborhood Survey, which guides the collection of data on opinions about public space investments, levels of engagement, travel patterns, sense of safety, and connection to community; the Local News Sentiment Analysis Tool, which offers a framework for analyzing public perceptions of sites and neighborhoods through the lens of your city’s local news media; an Observation Map, which guides the collection of data about how many people are visiting a site, when they visit, their activities and interactions with people around them through observation; and the Tree Benefits Analysis Tool, designed to help you understand the ecological impact of your site’s existing tree canopy and the current and projected ecological impacts of additional tree plantings.