Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) recently launched the next version of its CDFI Information Mapping System (CIMS3). For the first time, the CIMS system, which allows organizations approving for CDFI or Community Development Entity (CDE) certification to plot eligible service areas, www.cdfifund.gov/mapping will for the first time allow the general public to access eligibility data. CIMS3 will also allow prospective and certified CDFIs and CDEs enhanced capacities to identify and assess target markets, to quickly and accurately determine the eligibility of specific sites for possible investments, and to easily create maps and geographic data analyses.
New and improved features of the system include:
- A wide array of pertinent census data, including American Community Survey 2006-2010 data;
- A dramatically improved and expanded geocoding capability;
- The ability to simulate and tentatively validate target market and population designations; and
- The capacity to upload, geographically analyze and save data collected or acquired by individual users.
