In essence, indicators are measurements that reflect the interplay between social, environmental, and economic factors affecting a region’s or community’s well-being.
Secondly, strictly economic indicators do not count the value of non-monetary activity, such as homemaker and volunteer work and non-cash public assistance, which are decidedly positive for the quality of life of many families (Journal article by David Swain, Danielle Hollar; International Journal of Public Administration, Vol.
A communities level approach to this apparent invalidity is based on the evidence of a social group whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common culture and history.
Community indicators are not a new concept; they have been in use since 1910, when the Russell Sage Foundation initiated the development of local surveys for measuring industrial, educational, recreational, and other factors.
After a decade of renewed attention to community indicators, they now represent a valuable mechanism to improve monitoring and evaluation in planning.