Challenges

 Keeping Technology in Its Place. The most common pitfall of using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for mapping is that technology may overwhelm the effort and consume more time, money, and energy than planned. The principal key to success is to ensure that GIS technology is used as a tool for neighborhood revitalization, rather than letting it drive the effort.

Balancing Costs and Benefits. Since GIS is expensive and time consuming, community practitioners must be prepared to conduct up-front cost-benefit analyses of using it. When, as is often the case, the costs for nonprofit community groups to develop and maintain their own GIS applications outweigh the benefits, partnering with a technology intermediary might be a better fit.

Getting Access to Data. While public data such as census and employment statistics are easy to acquire, detailed property information at the parcel level is more difficult to obtain. Since parcel-level data is a key ingredient for equitable development, building relationships with city agencies and departments, which have this information, is necessary. In most cases, multiple relationships have to be established to get access to a variety of data sources for a given project. "Cleaning" multiple data sets so that they are compatible can also be challenging. Coalitions and alliances may be helpful in this process.

Building and Maintaining Technical Capacity. Given the few resources available, acquiring even basic technology skills can be a challenge for many community based organizations. Establishing the capacity to manage data and use mapping software requires an even greater sophistication, which can be time and resource intensive to acquire. Maintaining in-house capacity and/or partnering may make sense for long-term mapping projects, while outsourcing to a data or mapping intermediary may be advisable for shorter-term projects.

Maintaining Privacy. As data becomes more widely available and accessible (via the Internet and other electronic formats), privacy issues are emerging. Mapmakers should use discretion around which data to display at the parcel, block, block group, census tract or neighborhood level. The smaller the level of geography, the greater the privacy concerns will be. Mapping efforts have resolved these issues in different ways, including requiring a password for parcel-level data on the Internet, making some data available only via CDs or at a centralized location, and only sharing summary data. Although privacy is an issue, it is also important to remember that most community mapping projects use data that is already publicly available.

Securing Ample Funding. Community mapping-particularly when using GIS-can require a substantial investment at the front end to purchase equipment and train staff. If the effort includes collecting data from city agencies or through neighborhood surveys, and/or includes building a collaborative to collect or use the findings, the time required before maps are produced may be significant (six or more months). Funders may need to be educated about the level of resources and the time that may be required.