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QUESTION

How does the NYC Housing and Vacancy Survey differ from the American Community Survey (ACS) regarding demographic information?

1:16:33

·

3 min

Chief Research Officer Elyzabeth Gaumer clarifies that the New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey (NYCHVS) does not utilize American Community Survey (ACS) data and outlines the differences between the two surveys.

  • The NYCHVS is specifically designed for New York City and collects data relevant to its unique context, unlike the ACS which is national.
  • Both NYCHVS and ACS are conducted by the US Census Bureau but serve different purposes and operate under different methodologies.
  • While the ACS provides important population data, the HVS offers more updated information and is tailored to New York City's specific needs.
  • Data from both surveys are weighted to census estimates on population and housing units, but the NYCHVS provides insights on New York City's housing and demographic changes over time.
Pierina Ana Sanchez
1:16:33
And I I have too many windows open.
1:16:36
But I do have a question here about the HPD well, the housing vacancy surveys demographic information.
1:16:44
So understanding that you are using 2022 American Community Survey data or 20 21 American community survey data.
1:16:53
Is there is there an issue with the with the information on the demographics?
Elyzabeth Gaumer
1:17:00
Sure.
1:17:00
So let me sort of deconstruct that question a little bit here.
1:17:05
Apologies in advance if I get 2 technicals.
1:17:08
Somebody just asked for for more words, smaller words.
1:17:12
So first of all, let me ex explain for for folks in the audience here.
1:17:17
The US Census Bureau conducts many surveys.
1:17:21
We often think of just the fluorescence, which is the decennial enumeration of the faux pas population count, but in fact, they conduct many surveys.
1:17:31
1 of them is the American community survey, sometimes called ACS.
1:17:35
Which is a national sample to collect information on the population between Desenials and other information, obviously.
1:17:43
That's critical importance for a variety of reasons.
1:17:46
They also collect the housing and vacancy survey.
1:17:51
New York City Housing And Vacancy Survey or NYCHVS, which is our survey.
1:17:55
These are 2 totally different surveys.
1:17:58
We do not utilize ACS at all.
1:18:01
For any reason.
1:18:03
Right?
1:18:03
They're just 2 different efforts that both are conducted by the US Census Bureau.
1:18:10
Because we are both census surveys.
1:18:13
There are some similarities, right, which is maybe helpful to understand.
1:18:17
We're generally sampling from the same master list of addresses.
1:18:22
Right?
1:18:22
So we're sort of coming from the same parent, if you will.
1:18:27
And at the end of the day, when our survey statisticians weight our data to ensure its representative, including by demographics, We are generally using the same source of information in those weights, although they're different time points and different vintages as they call them.
1:18:44
And so both the NYCHBS and separately the ACS are weighted to census estimates on population, the count of people, population estimates, and housing units.
1:18:59
Those are actually 2 separate estimates done by different folks at the US Census Bureau.
1:19:04
So just as broader context of sort of there's many different things.
1:19:09
The ACS is a very important source of data, but is obviously not customized to New York City and doesn't capture all of the data that we capture.
1:19:19
It's also currently the most recent data available from the ACS's 2022.
1:19:24
So we're actually providing more updated information than is otherwise available from any other census product.
1:19:31
But one of the keys to what we are doing is that it is foreign by the city of New York.
1:19:36
Right?
1:19:36
So the NYCHVS goes above and beyond others surveys, including ACS, to measure things that are unique to our context and our history, and to do so over this very long time frame.
1:19:48
So we can understand both change as well as continuity.
Pierina Ana Sanchez
1:19:52
Great.
1:19:52
Thank you.
1:19:52
That's that's really helpful to understand that there is no relationship except for the parent relationship.
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