Amid continuing concern about crime and violence, Madison is testing an early warning system to identify neighborhoods falling into trouble.

The pilot Neighborhood Indicators Project is using more than 40 types of data, ranging from crimes against people to unemployment rates to eligibility for reduced school lunches, in an effort to spot problems.

The $40,000 pilot project covers five neighborhoods — Burr Oaks, Brams Addition, Waunona-Broadway-Lake Point Drive, Heritage Heights and Orchard Ridge — plus the full city, and puts a mix of data from 2007 and 2008 online.

The project, developed with the help of UW-Madison's Applied Population Lab, lets users study neighborhood profiles, compare neighborhoods against one another, and eventually study neighborhoods over time.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is proposing to spend $115,000 next year to expand the project citywide, which would offer a sweeping picture with two years of data by the end of 2009.

The mayor's office, however, said data quality is still being improved and cautions against drawing too many conclusions right away.

"It's a pilot program," said Andrew Statz, the mayor's fiscal efficiency auditor. "It is limited in its ability to help make decisions or comparisons."

The program is more about showing residents what the system looks like and what it can do, Statz said. "We want people to give us feedback."

The project, modeled after an effort in Charlotte, N.C., has great potential, Statz and others said.

"In the past, we have often been reactive as opposed to being proactive," said City Council President Tim Bruer, a champion of the effort. "The city didn't have a way of assessing problems or challenges or even strengths of neighborhoods."

Stuart Seffern, vice chairman of the South Madison Planning Council and an activist in the Burr Oaks neighborhood, portrayed as troubled in the recent pilot presentation, agreed.

"It's a measure of accountability," he said. "You can't argue with numbers like these. Something like this is long overdue."