Why neighborhoods

XML feed. Choose a Category. Understanding Why Neighborhoods Matter. The very youngest people in the experiment, who spent the most time living in safer neighborhoods, saw the greatest benefits. These children were more likely to eventually attend college and much less likely to be teen parents. Over time, the additional taxes that will be collected on their larger incomes are expected to more than make up for the costs of the MTO program.

Some of the early findings from the experiment were disappointing. For example, Neighborhood A above has a score of only 7 one of the lowest in the country and Neighborhood B has a score of 99 nearly the very highest in the country. The map above was developed using the Child Opportunity Index 2. The areas with yellow dots are neighborhoods where predominantly black children live. We can tell from the map that those tend to be lower opportunity neighborhoods light blue. In contrast, areas with green dots, where predominantly white children live, tend to be higher opportunity neighborhoods.

Cleveland has the third highest opportunity gap between white and black children among the largest metros in the nation. The simple fact that the boy in Neighborhood A lives in a low-opportunity neighborhood puts him—and the rest of his peers—at a lifelong disadvantage. His day-to-day life, and his life expectations and outcomes, are far more stark than the boy in Neighborhood B. Because Neighborhood A lacks neighborhood resources, it may negatively impact not only his childhood experiences but his long-term education and income opportunities, health, and more.

Meanwhile, Neighborhood B conditions are favorable and well aligned for supporting the boy and his peers to grow up healthy and reach their potential. The boy in this neighborhood will not have to think much about his neighborhood but will simply enjoy the resources it offers. Eventually, having grown up in such a supportive environment may have a favorable influence on his education, health, economic prospects, and even life expectancy.

As you can see in the chart above, residents in Neighborhood B, a neighborhood of very high opportunity, have a life expectancy of Cleveland is just one metro area the Child Opportunity Index has mapped and measured; there are many more U. There are policies and practices in Cleveland and other metros nationwide that limit opportunities for all children to grow up healthy. Communities are not islands. Economic forces e. Investment or disinvestment in communities reflects deliberate public policy and private decisions.

The Child Opportunity Index is a tool that can help us understand where—and to what extent—inequities exist, so we can address them. Since it was first released in , researchers, city planners, city and community leaders, and other stakeholders have used the Child Opportunity Index to identify current inequities in their metros and—most importantly—take steps to address these inequities so that children have more equitable opportunities.

Read more about Albany's efforts and its impact and hear about it on an NPR segment that ran in December The City of Chicago used the Child Opportunity Index as a key tool that informed its five-year strategic plan, Healthy Chicago 2. We must invest in improving public policies that address the inequities that the Child Opportunity Index so clearly shows us. You can start by understanding what opportunity looks like in your own backyard at diversitydatakids.

Read her full bio. Something went wrong while submitting the form. Why Neighborhoods? By Kathy Madden When we decided to produce The Great Neighborhood Book: A Do-it-Yourself Guide to Placemaking , we knew that we would be tapping into a well of grassroots interactions, solutions, and collaborations in the neighborhoods that we examined. Enjoy your evening! Kathy Madden PPS's Great Neighborhood Book, full of inspiring examples of how neighbors are tackling important issues in their own backyards, is available to Making Places readers through our online store.

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