EDITORIAL: Bloomington data trends a lot to absorb

The most troubling numbers concern poverty, drug and alcohol dependency and recidivism, the latter of which essentially is how frequently those who are charged with crimes repeat offenses.

There’s long been suspicion about poverty numbers released about Bloomington based on the effects of Indiana University. Student workers drive down wages, and student residents have access to financial support other than from employment.

That noted, the statistics in the index, which come from a variety of sources, suggest the percentage of residents in poverty has grown dramatically from 2000 to 2015 — from 29.6 percent to 38.2 percent of the city’s population.

You can’t look too closely at the raw numbers and the percentages on the Bloomington page in the Sagamore Institute report. They represent different years or numbers from different sources, which means the raw numbers for population growth or people in poverty don’t calculate into the percentages appearing on the same page.

But the trends are clear from the data gleaned from a number of existing sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, StatsAmerica, the Indiana Prevention Resource Center and the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. Troy Riggs, vice president of the think tank, noted in a telephone conversation that the name of the think tank, Sagamore, “means wise council ... we’re just trying to give pertinent data on cities in Indiana to stimulate discussion.”

The top target for discussion in Bloomington should be poverty, based on the data gathered and reported. The city has been growing — but a high percentage of the population increase is represented by people who live in poverty based on federal guidelines. Median income in the community grew by 9 percent over the past five years, the report states, but national inflation grew by 10 percent.

The 2015 poverty rate in the report is highest among Indiana’s 11 largest cities and also tops major cities in the Midwest, including Louisville, St. Louis and Cincinnati.

On drugs and alcohol, the data found by Sagamore Institute showed Bloomington has the second highest rate of drug and alcohol dependency among major Indiana cities when measuring alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, meth and prescription drug abuse. The report states Bloomington has a 43.8 percent recidivism rate, highest among major Indiana cities.

The report also included positives, such as Bloomington having the highest number of buses per hour, representing the best public transportation access among the largest Indiana cities. The percentage of residents with a bachelor’s degree is third highest in the state, and the percent of the population that smokes is third lowest — as is the percentage of the population that would be classified as obese.

As Riggs said, the Public Good Index is meant to stimulate discussion.

There’s a lot to talk about. And a lot to address.