Elana Simon

Elana Simon is an urban planner, data scientist, and writer joining CLiME as a Senior Research Fellow. Elana serves as an embedded data analyst with the City of Newark’s Department of Economic and Housing Development. She also supports additional CLiME projects that explore innovative policy strategies for affordable housing.

Elana holds a dual master’s in City & Regional Planning and Public Informatics from the Bloustein School, Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Her work focuses on the development of urban analysis tools that inform place-based strategies for equitable economic development. Her professional experience includes working with the Tax Policy and Data Analytics Division of the New York City Department of Finance where she improved core data processes and conducted property market modeling for policy analysis. She has also authored policy reports with Urban Manufacturing Alliance and contributed to research at the Bloustein School’s Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement.

From our interview in the February Newsletter:

Elana grew up in Redmond, WA which is about 15 minutes outside of Seattle. Not yet fully realizing how growing up in the Seattle area affected her decision to become an Urban Planner, what she did recount is that Seattle is known for its sprawl and lack of transportation infrastructure. After college, Elana lived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan teaching English and learning Mandarin Chinese. Perhaps because Seattle is an "introverted place" as described by Elana, she found the east coast and the Bloustein School a perfect fit when she was looking for graduate study.

Elana's specialty in Public Informatics was supported by her father who works in computer science and supported her in this work. She finds this lens can provide a critical perspective on data analysis. In her work with the City of Newark she seeks to situate data collection and analysis in context by looking at what she terms "residual data" collected during administrative processes and how the collection of this data can exacerbate or even create social injustice.

Her work with CLiME allows her to learn how the database of city-owned property she is analyzing can be used for policy analysis. She is also excited to work directly with the people who created and maintain the this data to learn about the complexities involved with data collection and maintenance.

Elana is excited to experience the NY/NJ region where you may find her jogging in a local park!