Web site packed with York County life indicators
YorkCounts’ new Web site earns accolades as York Town Square’s noteworthy Web site of the fortnight, or as often as I bestow this award. www.yorkcounts.org
This local group has packed its site with quality of life indicators in graphic form that tell how York County’s doing.
The York Daily Record/Sunday News is publishing these indicators each week, probably on Saturdays.
This past Sunday, the indicator measured voter turnout in gubernatorial races from 1994-2002. Glass half full: Voter turnout increased slightly between 1998 and the 2002 elections. Half empty: Less than half of the county’s registered voters cast ballots in each election.
One graphic in the YorkCounts list continues to fascinate: According to 2000 census figures, one out of five York countians does not hold a high school diploma. The numbers in all regions of the county are up since 1990… .
History plays on these numbers in at least two ways: First, York County led the state in one-room schools before World War II. Many students in those schools never graduated. Secondly, York had segregated elementary schools until 1954. Some students did not bother to go on to the integrated William Penn High School after the eighth grade.
If YorkCounts keeps updating these indicators, they’ll build a valuable historical record easily accessible to future generations. These numbers are part of the public record, but YorkCounts has made them handy.
For those trying to understand York County, take a second and scan the graphics.
