The Office of Community Studies is an academic and applied research center affiliated with the Department of Urban Studies at Queens College.

We provide technical assistance to community organizations seeking to gain a deeper understanding about the borough of Queens and its many diverse neighborhoods. We team with public and private entities to conduct applied, participatory research that encourages positive change in the communities we serve.

The Office of Community Studies also functions as a home for community-oriented research conducted by faculty and students in the Department of Urban Studies. It is a repository for data, software, and analyses produced by faculty and students and used by them in their classes and research.

Our Mission

The Office of Community Studies is dedicated to providing access to community-oriented research and information that can increase the capacity for local organizations and institutions to create positive change

Who We Are

The Office of Community Studies engages faculty and students in the Department of Urban Studies at Queens College. Our areas of research interest and expertise include:

• demographic change
• environmental justice
• urban sustainability
• community economic development
• immigrant communities
• immigrant health
• social service provision
• public policy
• Planning

What We Do

The Office of Community Studies offers a range of research and information services to private and public organizations. We provide data analysis and mapping, consult with not-for-profit organizations and government agencies on their data needs, and conduct community needs assessments and build community profiles.

A significant resource for much of this work is Infoshare, an online database system that allows for detailed analysis and mapping of demographic, health and economic information.

The Office’s academic orientation also allows us to provide community organizations with specialized research. For the last twenty years, research on economic development and minority business initiatives have been funded and conducted through the Office. Future research projects include studies of immigrant health in Queens, renewable energy analyses and planning studies in the community of Flushing, as well as ongoing studies of economic and ethnic change in Queens and throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Please explore our projects!