—Tyler Caldwell and Mark Curry, Auburn University
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Spatial technology, in the form of GIS, helps a small, but quickly growing, community in Alabama to prepare for Census 2010. The Town of Pike Road, Alabama, created in 1996 with a legislative act, 300 residents, and goal of a school system, is on the brink of having to delay the creation of an independent school system by 3–5 years if the town does not have the necessary 5,000 residents as of the start of Census 2010. As of Census 2000, Pike Road's population is 1,200, well short of the required 5,000 residents needed for a school system. In order to be assured that they have the necessary number of citizens and in anticipation of Census 2010, the people of Pike Road conducted a door to door survey of the town. Spatial information technology is instrumental in streamlining the efforts of the volunteers on the front end and the spatial interpretation of the results on the back end. Utilizing GIS, every parcel in Pike Road was spatially divided into neighborhoods. Each lot (vacant or occupied) is given a unique identification number. Individual maps are created for each surveyor and have several important features, done quickly and easily with GIS. The maps highlight the 20–25 parcels the surveyor is responsible for, parcels incorporated into Pike Road but to be surveyed by another volunteer, and unincorporated parcels (surveyors were encouraged to present annexation petitions to unincorporated homes). The second function utilizes the data retrieved from the surveys. Fields containing data on the number of residents, age of each resident, tenure of residency, owner/renter occupancy, education and race of occupants are joined to the shapefile, via Microsoft Access. In this case, spatial technology allowed a small town, with a modest budget, and only the help of two graduate students, to be confident that they will be able to move forward with the creation of their school system.