Data and editorial methods
How public records become readable city pages.
Every published number must keep its source, time period, geographic scope, and important limits. A polished sentence never outranks the underlying evidence.
1. Start with a named source
CityFit currently uses versioned releases from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, NOAA, and the FBI. Source URLs and retrieval dates stay attached to observations instead of being replaced by unsourced summaries.
2. Keep the boundary visible
City and Metro are different entities. A metric is published only with its declared scope, and reported-crime agency coverage is not presented as though it exactly matches a Census boundary.
3. Transform without hiding
Derived values keep their formula and inputs. Missing or non-comparable values remain unavailable. CityFit does not fill gaps with model guesses or turn unlike measures into a score.
4. Use automation as assistance
Automated and AI-assisted tools may help organize research, draft and translate explanations, write code, and run checks. Model output is never accepted as a factual source. Published facts must trace to the versioned dataset, and material releases are checked against CityFit’s product, provenance, privacy, and accessibility rules.
5. Correct the record
Dataset releases are retained rather than silently overwritten. Significant data changes should update the affected pages and their evidence. When CityFit cannot state an accurate modification date, it omits that signal instead of manufacturing freshness.