Frequently Asked Questions
It's a website that allows you to learn more about the neighbourhood you work, play or live in.
It's a website that allows you to learn more about the neighbourhood you work, play or live in.
Wellbeing Toronto can help you to find out more neighbourhoods when you're moving to a new house, planning a business investment, concerned about crime trends, locating a specific demographic group or simply interested in Toronto neighbourhoods. It's an information tool.
Wellbeing Toronto can help you to find out more neighbourhoods when you're moving to a new house, planning a business investment, concerned about crime trends, locating a specific demographic group or simply interested in Toronto neighbourhoods. It's an information tool.
There are 140 neighbourhoods. These were built for City planning and analysis purposes and may not exactly align with the boundaries of historical neighbourhoods such as Swansea or The Beach.
There are 140 neighbourhoods. These were built for City planning and analysis purposes and may not exactly align with the boundaries of historical neighbourhoods such as Swansea or The Beach.
Most of the indicator data uses 2008 as a baseline, with the exception of indicators in the Demographics domain, which are from the 2006 Census. A few indicators are from more recent years. This will be noted in the Indicator Information window (press the ? button). The date of collection for the Additional Layers varies; please contact the Geospatial Competency Centre (gcc@toronto.ca) to get precise metadata.
Most of the indicator data uses 2008 as a baseline, with the exception of indicators in the Demographics domain, which are from the 2006 Census. A few indicators are from more recent years. This will be noted in the Indicator Information window (press the ? button). The date of collection for the Additional Layers varies; please contact the Geospatial Competency Centre (gcc@toronto.ca) to get precise metadata.
We expect to update the indicators every 2 years. Demographics data will be updated according to the Census schedule (new data from the 2011 Census will be released in 2012).
We expect to update the indicators every 2 years. Demographics data will be updated according to the Census schedule (new data from the 2011 Census will be released in 2012).
No, those were developed using a different system, but WT allows you to essentially create your own priority areas using a similar process.
No, those were developed using a different system, but WT allows you to essentially create your own priority areas using a similar process.
Many City of Toronto divisions, Agencies, Boards and Commissions were involved in the project. You can see a list of contributors on the application's Acknowledgments page.
Many City of Toronto divisions, Agencies, Boards and Commissions were involved in the project. You can see a list of contributors on the application's Acknowledgments page.
Yes, possibly, but this is no different from what Statistics Canada does when it releases large datasets. Any data can be misused, and Wellbeing Toronto tries to provide data that had not previously been available to the public. This helps researchers to confront problems and remove error. When evaluating any output from Wellbeing Toronto, one has to keep in mind the credibility of the person or institution which created that output, as is the case with any research.
Yes, possibly, but this is no different from what Statistics Canada does when it releases large datasets. Any data can be misused, and Wellbeing Toronto tries to provide data that had not previously been available to the public. This helps researchers to confront problems and remove error. When evaluating any output from Wellbeing Toronto, one has to keep in mind the credibility of the person or institution which created that output, as is the case with any research.
Potential indicators were vetted through a long process that involved data providers and expert evaluation. Seven major criteria were used to evaluate shortlisted datasets: Accessibility, Comparability, Consistency, Credibility, Relevance, Measurability and Validity.
Potential indicators were vetted through a long process that involved data providers and expert evaluation. Seven major criteria were used to evaluate shortlisted datasets: Accessibility, Comparability, Consistency, Credibility, Relevance, Measurability and Validity.
Wellbeing Toronto works best in modern browsers with fast Javascript engines, such as Internet Explorer 9, Chrome 11 or Firefox 4. It works reasonably well in some older browsers like Internet Explorer 8, but does not work properly in IE7 or IE6.
Wellbeing Toronto works best in modern browsers with fast Javascript engines, such as Internet Explorer 9, Chrome 11 or Firefox 4. It works reasonably well in some older browsers like Internet Explorer 8, but does not work properly in IE7 or IE6.
Contact IT Service Desk to have them upgrade you to Internet Explorer 8.
Contact IT Service Desk to have them upgrade you to Internet Explorer 8.
They allow you to weight your indicators. By sliding the value of an indicator to 5, you make it more important; by sliding it to 1 you make it less important. Sliding it to 0 (zero) temporarily removes it from the screen.
They allow you to weight your indicators. By sliding the value of an indicator to 5, you make it more important; by sliding it to 1 you make it less important. Sliding it to 0 (zero) temporarily removes it from the screen.
0 to 5 was chosen for its simplicity. Other scales can be confusing to users and may not convey the distinct range of differences. Technically speaking, the large variation in many datasets may not be affected by a very granular scale such as 1-100; for example, moving the slider from 63 to 66 may not shift the underlying value enough to affect the picture on the map, leading the user to think the slider is broken. User experience testing has shown the 0-5 scale to be fairly easy to comprehend and it usually shows instant results.
0 to 5 was chosen for its simplicity. Other scales can be confusing to users and may not convey the distinct range of differences. Technically speaking, the large variation in many datasets may not be affected by a very granular scale such as 1-100; for example, moving the slider from 63 to 66 may not shift the underlying value enough to affect the picture on the map, leading the user to think the slider is broken. User experience testing has shown the 0-5 scale to be fairly easy to comprehend and it usually shows instant results.
Sometimes a neighbourhood may not have any value for an indicator. This is known as a null and is a rare occurence. If any neighbourhood which is part of the Composite Index has a null, the Composite Index will have a null too.
Sometimes a neighbourhood may not have any value for an indicator. This is known as a null and is a rare occurence. If any neighbourhood which is part of the Composite Index has a null, the Composite Index will have a null too.
When layers of information such as indicators are added together the result is called a Composite Index. It's a composite because it combines data layers, and it's an index because the result is a single number for each neighbourhood. The Wellbeing Toronto Composite Index which you control shows the highest, middling and lowest neighbourhoods for whatever combination of indicators you have selected.
For example, if you select Library Activity and Voting Turnout, your Composite Index will show those neighbourhoods with the highest library activity and highest voting turnout (the darkest colours) and also the lowest neighbourhoods (the lighter colours), plus everything in between. This does not necessarily mean that library activity and voting turnout are related to each; whether they are is beyond the scope of Wellbeing Toronto.
When layers of information such as indicators are added together the result is called a Composite Index. It's a composite because it combines data layers, and it's an index because the result is a single number for each neighbourhood. The Wellbeing Toronto Composite Index which you control shows the highest, middling and lowest neighbourhoods for whatever combination of indicators you have selected.
For example, if you select Library Activity and Voting Turnout, your Composite Index will show those neighbourhoods with the highest library activity and highest voting turnout (the darkest colours) and also the lowest neighbourhoods (the lighter colours), plus everything in between. This does not necessarily mean that library activity and voting turnout are related to each; whether they are is beyond the scope of Wellbeing Toronto.
Each indicator shows the occurrence of some phenomena, such as Thefts or University Applicants. High occurrences (a lot of something) are shown in darker colours on the map; fewer occurences (very little of something) are shown in lighter colours.
Each indicator shows the occurrence of some phenomena, such as Thefts or University Applicants. High occurrences (a lot of something) are shown in darker colours on the map; fewer occurences (very little of something) are shown in lighter colours.
A wealth of more detailed demographic info by neighbourhood and ward can be found on the Demographics page, while overall city information is presented in the Progress Portal.
A wealth of more detailed demographic info by neighbourhood and ward can be found on the Demographics page, while overall city information is presented in the Progress Portal.
A histogram is a bar chart that shows the distribution of values in a dataset. For example, when looking at the Seniors Living Alone indicator, most of the values are in the 1-40 range, with only a few in the 41-100 range. The histogram shows this distribution visually.
A histogram is a bar chart that shows the distribution of values in a dataset. For example, when looking at the Seniors Living Alone indicator, most of the values are in the 1-40 range, with only a few in the 41-100 range. The histogram shows this distribution visually.