COMPASS of Larimer County

I'm a bit worried that after Friday I won't be able to link to some of the great resources I discover. In previewing the new FB look I didn't see a way to add links. I guess we'll see come Monday!

Here's some interesting info from the pages that were updated on COMPASS this week:

1. In 2006 Congress enacted stricter bankruptcy laws making it more difficult for individuals to declare bankruptcy. From 2002 to 2005, bankruptcies in Larimer County increased 90% before dropping 72% in 2006. Unfortunately, other than the first year (2006), the law doesn't seem to have worked because bankruptcies have increased 184% since 2006. There were 1,787 bankruptcy filings in Larimer County in 2011, the 2nd highest number in the last 10 years. (Bankruptcy & Foreclosure)

2. Housing is considered affordable if less than 30% of your income is spent on housing needs. Between 2006 and 2010, an estimated 31% of homeowners (not including renters) paid 30% or more of their income for housing. But even more interesting is the percentage of homeowners paying more than 30% of their income for housing even when they don't have a mortgage! Of the estimated 19,000 homeowners in the county without a mortgage, more than 11% of them pay 30% or more for housing and of those 11%, nearly 45% are paying 50% or more of their income for housing. (Home Ownership/Affordable Housing)

3. Providing enough water for all who wish to live in an arid climate can be a challenge. Our utility departments do a good job of managing this often scarce resource. In 2011, those served by the City of Fort Collins consumed 7.6 billions gallons of water, or 141 gallons per person per day. In Loveland, 3.7 billion gallons of water was consumed, or 149 gallons per person per day. Nationally, the average is somewhere between 80 and 100 gallons per person per day.

As you might already know, much of this water is being used for agriculture. But quite a bit is also being used to water lawns and other residential landscaping. (Water Consumption)

Other pages that were updated include Adoptions, Alternative Sentencing, Birth Defects, Domestic Violence, Marriage-Divorce Rates, and Unemployment Rate.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
--Nelson Mandela

I've been busy working on a variety of updates for COMPASS. Within the next few days there will be new information available on the website on adoptions, bankruptcies and foreclosures, domestic violence, home ownership, marriage/divorce rates, unemployment rates, and water consumption.

There are a couple of interesting nuggets in this data, so check back later in the week!

Just received an email from Lew Wymisner at Larimer County's Workforce Center with the January 2012 unemployment rate. It was 6.9%, which is much, much better than a year ago when it was 8.0%.

We're heading in the right direction, so let's hope high gasoline prices don't derail it!

Did you see this article in today's Coloradoan warning that student loan interest rates could double on July 1st? Stafford loans would go from 3.4% to 6.8% per year or an additional $5,000 over 10 years if the maximum of $23,000 were borrowed.

Getting a college education is becoming outrageously expensive and soon only the privileged few will be able to afford it.

I find that so very sad.

Interest rate could double for college students WASHINGTON - College would get costlier for millions of low- and middle-income student loan recipients starting next fall - including 7,675 at CSU - unless Congress intervenes.

UPDATE ON CONCENTRATED POVERTY: I need to update the numbers I provided on Feb. 24th on concentrated poverty in Larimer County since I discovered an error.

Here's what I found -- in 2000 there were 355 children living in neighborhoods where 30% or more of the residents lived below the federal poverty level. By 2010 (actually the 2006-2010 5-year estimated average), that number jumped to 1,147, representing a 223% increase. During this same time period, there was a 5.6% increase in the number of children under 18 living in Larimer County.

When extending those numbers a bit, there were an additional 789 children living in neighborhoods where between 20% and 29.9% of residents lived below the federal poverty level, a 110% increase since 2000. It seems quite likely that these neighborhoods are a few accidents, illnesses, or job losses away from becoming concentrated poverty neighborhoods.

Either way you look at it, the number of children living in concentrated poverty is too high, so it's good to know United Way of Larimer County is making a concerted effort to work on this problem.