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500 Cities: A Critical Public Health Dataset

This archive preserves vital public health data from the CDC's 500 Cities Project, capturing a crucial snapshot of health metrics across America's largest urban communities as of 2016. We maintain this data as a public good, ensuring continued access to information that helps communities understand and advocate for their health needs.

Why This Data Matters

This dataset provides detailed insights into:

  • Health access disparities across neighborhoods
  • Preventive care availability
  • Chronic disease patterns
  • Community health behaviors
  • Geographic health inequities

These metrics have been essential for:

  • Community health advocates planning resource distribution
  • Public health researchers studying urban health patterns
  • Local organizations writing grant proposals
  • Healthcare providers understanding community needs
  • Citizens advocating for better health services

The Data

We preserve two key components:

City-Level Overview

A comprehensive view of health metrics for the 500 largest US cities, providing crucial context for understanding urban health patterns.

Download City Dataset (13MB)

Detailed Census Tract Data

Neighborhood-level health information, allowing for detailed analysis of health disparities and access issues within cities.

Download Census Tract Dataset (43MB)

Data Integrity & Trust

To ensure data integrity: - SHA-256 checksums provided for verification - Original file formats preserved - Complete metadata included - Public domain status maintained

Alternative Access Methods

In addition to direct downloads, this data is available through: 

magnet:?xt=urn:btih:0eb040a96a6c8a48f12339506853a11808d886a9&dn=.&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.opentrackr.org%3A1337&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A6969

Working with the Data

The data is in ESRI Shapefile format, accessible through: - QGIS (free, open-source) - ArcGIS - Other standard GIS tools

A Call for Preservation

This dataset represents more than just numbers – it's a snapshot of American urban health that must be preserved for: - Historical record - Longitudinal research - Policy development - Community advocacy - Health equity work

Please consider helping maintain this public resource by: - Sharing with interested organizations - Seeding the torrent - Using it in your research and advocacy - Citing it in your work

Technical Details

For those working directly with the files:

  • CityBoundaries.shp and related files contain city-level metrics
  • 500Cities_Tracts_Clip.shp and related files contain neighborhood-level data
  • NAD 1983 projection system used throughout
  • Full metadata available in XML files
  • Original CDC documentation preserved

License & Attribution

This data was originally published by the CDC and remains in the public domain. While no attribution is required, we encourage citing both the original CDC 500 Cities Project and HAVEN's preservation effort in your work.