kgcrowther wrote:I think population data is available on the census block level.
It certainly is at blockgroup, but I haven't looked very hard. For what I'm doing right now, and am capable of doing, population comparison is going to have to wait. (My calling has included stake membership clerk for almost three years now.) I don't think it would be that difficult for someone, somewhere to be able to generate membership statistics by blockgroup or census tract and compare them to Census statistics. I do think that would be a bit of a burden at the stake level, even if there's a clerk who knows the software.
I think eventually lat./long. should just be entered into MLS as another field in the database. This would be relatively simple and avoid the need to geocode over and over again.
Absolutely. What I meant was that Salt Lake could make a pass at geocoding everyone once, and then again when someone moves. Otherwise it would stay stored on the membership record, and wards (with the right information) could fill in the gaps. When they do change an address, MLS could ask, "Is the position changing?" and the clerk could say no if it's just a matter of fixing a ZIP Code or something like that. Otherwise, MLS would at least attempt to fill in new coordinates. Each ward could be issued a paper map showing what neighborhoods or towns are getting what codes, so they'd know how to answer that if it came up.