Metadata for Montana Towns Metadata for Montana Towns

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Identification Information:

Citation:

Originator: Montana State Library
Publication date: 08/08/2013
Title: Montana Towns
Other citation details:: This layer replaces the 2003 data set on the NRIS web site called "ct107"
Online linkage: https://ftpgeoinfo.msl.mt.gov/Data/Spatial/NonMSDI/Shapefiles/Towns2013.zip

Abstract:

This layer has point locations, elevations, and estimated populations for 629 Montana towns. Where a town corresponds to an incorporated place or a Census Designated Place, the 2010 population value is the official Census population of the place. The 2010 population of other towns are based on the populations of the 2010 Census Blocks that an area around the town covers. Every town also has estimated 1990 and 2000 populations of the area currently defined as representing the town. For incorporated and Census Designated Places, these estimates will generally not equal the 1990 or 2000 Census populations of those places because their boundaries may have changed since the earlier Censuses.

The towns selected for inclusion in this layer are the ones that were shown on 1:250,000 scale U.S. Geological Survey maps in the 1970s and on the Montana Highway Map published by the state in the 1990s. Some Census Designated Places that seem to represent suburban regions or rural subdivisions are not included in this layer. In some cases, there is disagreement between the names and/or extents of these towns and the Census Designated Places that cover all or part of the same area. These discrepancies are noted in the Alt_Name field of the layer.

The locations of the towns generally come from the U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System. The locations shown in the previous version of this layer have been adjusted if they did seem not to reflect the location of the main part of the town. Towns that have been moved have a value of 1 in the "Shifted" attribute field.

Purpose:

This layer is intended for placing point locations of towns on small-scale maps of Montana. Population estimates are included to assist in choosing which towns to show and to allow differential symbolization of towns based on population.

Supplemental information:

The boundaries used for estimating the populations of the towns are included as a separate layer called "Town_Areas" in the downloadable layer package. Population is estimated by adding the populations of all Census Blocks that are completely inside the town area to a proportional population of all the Census Blocks that are partially covered by the town area. If 20 percent of a Census Block is covered by the town area, 20 percent of that block's population is added to the town population.

Most towns that are not incorporated or Census Designated places are represented as a circle two miles in diameter centered on the town. In areas where such circles would overlap with other towns, the towns may be represented by a two-kilometer circle or a manually drawn area. The former cities of Butte and Anaconda, which have organizationally merged with the counties that they were in, are represented as manually drawn areas because there are no Census places that cover just the cities.

For some towns, the population is shown as zero because there are no Census Blocks that are completely inside the town area and the large size and low population density of the blocks in the area results in an estimated population of zero. To see what the maximum possible Census population value for any place is, see the max_2010, max_2000, and max_1990 fields. These show the total population of all the Census Blocks that are partially or entirely covered by each place.

This layer replaces an earlier version that gave population information for the towns based on the Census definitions of the town areas for the year of the population estimate, rather than having all estimates be for the 2010 area definition as is in the present layer. The boundaries of some of the towns have changed from this layer, the spelling of some of the town names have been changed, and 5 more towns have been added.

Time period of content:

Calendar date: 04/01/2010
Currentness reference: Ground Condition

Access constraints: None

Use constraints:

The Montana State Library provides this product/service for informational purposes only. The Library did not produce it for, nor is it suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. Consumers of this information should review or consult the primary data and information sources to ascertain the viability of the information for their purposes. The Library provides these data in good faith but does not represent or warrant its accuracy, adequacy, or completeness. In no event shall the Library be liable for any incorrect results or analysis; any direct, indirect, special, or consequential damages to any party; or any lost profits arising out of or in connection with the use or the inability to use the data or the services provided. The Library makes these data and services available as a convenience to the public, and for no other purpose. The Library reserves the right to change or revise published data and/or services at any time.

Point of contact:

Montana State Library
PO Box 201800
Helena, MT 59620-1800
Telephone: 406-444-5354
TDD/TTY telephone: Montana Relay 711
Fax: 406-444-0266
E-Mail: geoinfo@mt.gov

Spatial Data Organization Information:

Point and vector object information:

SDTS object type: Entity point

SDTS object count: 629

Entity and Attribute Information:

Entity type label: Towns.dbf

Attribute label: FID

Attribute definition: shapefile sequence number

Attribute label: SHAPE

Attribute definition: Feature geometry

Attribute label: Town_ID

Attribute definition:: Unique ID number for the town. This ID may be used to link the features to the Town_Areas layer or to the previous (ct107) version of the layer.

Attribute label: Name

Attribute definition: Name of the town.

Attribute label: County

Attribute definition: Name of the County that contains the town.

Attribute label: Pop_2010

Attribute definition:: Estimated population of the town based on the 2010 Census. Where the town is an incorporated or Census Designated Place, this equals the official Census population of the place.

Attribute label: Pop_2000

Attribute definition:: Estimated population, based on the 2000 Census, of the currently defined area of the town. If the defined area of the town is not exactly the same as it was in 2000, this will NOT equal the 2000 Census population of the town.

Attribute label: Pop_1990

Attribute definition:: Estimated population, based on the 1990 Census, of the currently defined area of the town. If the defined area of the town is not exactly the same as it was in 1990, this will NOT equal the 1990 Census population of the town.

Attribute label: Type

Attribute definition:: This field indicates if the town is an incorporated or Census Designated place or describes the type of region used to estimate the population.

Attribute label: Lon

Attribute definition: Longitude of the town location

Attribute label: Lat

Attribute definition: Latitude of the town location

Attribute label: Elevation

Attribute definition:: Elevation of the town point location in feet. Estimated from the 1/3 arc-second National Elevation Dataset, 2013.

Attribute label: Alt_Names

Attribute definition:: Indicates the names of Census Designated Places associated with the town that are different from the town name, or changes in the town name from the previous version of the layer.

Attribute label: Max_2010

Attribute definition:: Total population of all 2010 Census Blocks that touch the town area.

Attribute label: Max_2000

Attribute definition:: Total population of all 2000 Census Blocks that touch the town area.

Attribute label: Max_1990

Attribute definition:: Total population of all 1990 Census Blocks that touch the town area.

Attribute label: GeoID10

Attribute definition:: Census ID of the 2010 incorporated or Census Designated place that corresponds to the town.

Attribute label: Shifted

Attribute definition:: Flag to indicate towns whose locations have been shifted from the previous version and/or GNIS location.

Distribution Information:

Distributor:

Montana State Library
PO Box 201800
Helena, MT 59620-1800
Telephone: 406-444-5354
Telephone: 406-444-5354
TDD/TTY telephone: Montana Relay 711
Fax: 406-444-0266
E-Mail: geoinfo@mt.gov
E-Mail: geoinfo@mt.gov

Resource description: Downloadable Data

Distribution liability:

Standard order process:

Digital form:

Metadata Reference Information:

Metadata date: 01/31/2014

Metadata review date: 08/07/2013

Metadata contact:

Montana State Library
PO Box 201800
Helena, MT 49620-1800
Telephone: 406-444-5354
TDD/TTY telephone: Montana Relay 711
Fax: 406-444-0266
E-Mail: geoinfo@mt.gov