Applying Opportunity Mapping to Social Justice Goals and Policy

1
Applying Opportunity Mapping to Social Justice
Goals and Policy

• Jason Reece, AICP
• Kirwan Institute
• Opportunity Mapping Workshop
• November 30th 2007

2
Similar Models Used Elsewhere

• The concept of using neighborhood based data to
  assess neighborhood opportunities and challenges
  is not unprecedented and is used in various
  sectors (examples)
• Business Site selection analysis by firms such
  as Claritas
• Community Development Criteria used to identify
  areas for targeted investment or areas targeted
  for specific community development initiatives
• Housing Models that try to connect affordable
  housing to areas of job growth work force
  housing initiatives
• The use of neighborhood based indicators for
  measuring sustainability is well established in
  the Austin region
• Opportunity mapping adds an additional analytical
  lens to this significant body of existing work in
  the region

3
What has opportunity mapping been used for in
other regions?

• The Kirwan Institute has conducted opportunity
  mapping in approximately a dozen metropolitan
  regions, some prominent examples of this work
  informing action can be found in three regions
• Chicago
• Baltimore
• Cleveland
• Austin
• Ohio (Education)
• African American Males

4
Chicago

• Chicago The Kirwan Institute worked with the
  Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open
  Communities and the Institute of Race and Poverty
  to conduct an opportunity mapping analysis in the
  Chicago region
• The opportunity maps produced as part of the
  Chicago research were utilized by the Leadership
  Council for advising inner-city voucher holders
  looking to relocate to higher opportunity
  neighborhoods in Chicago
• In addition, the research was utilized to inform
  inclusionary housing advocacy in the Chicago
  region, focusing on inclusionary zoning advocacy
  and to assess the impacts of the Low Income
  Housing Tax Credit program on expanding access to
  opportunity in the Chicago region

5
ChicagosCommunities of Opportunity

• This example is a 6 county Communities of
  Opportunity map for the Chicago region
• Red Lowest Opportunity
• Blue Highest Opportunity

Source Report published by the Leadership
Council for Metropolitan Open Communities 2005
6
Baltimore (Litigation)

• Baltimore Opportunity mapping in the Baltimore
  region was conducted as part of the Thompson v.
  HUD fair housing litigation
• Plaintiffs used opportunity mapping to frame
  their remedial proposal, in response to a
  liability ruling that found the U.S. Department
  of Housing and Urban Development in violation of
  the Fair Housing Act
• The plaintiffs have proposed establishing 7,000
  affordable housing units in the regions high-
  opportunity communities, available to volunteers
  who wish to relocate out of the City of
  Baltimores public housing

7
Proposed remedy identifies Communities of
Opportunity

• Used 14 indicators of neighborhood opportunity to
  designate high and low opportunity neighborhoods
  in the region
• Neighborhood Quality/Health
• Poverty, Crime, Vacancy, Property Values,
  Population Trends
• Economic Opportunity
• Proximity to Jobs and Job Changes, Public Transit
• Educational Opportunity
• School Poverty, School Test Scores, Teacher
  Qualifications

8
Opportunity and Race

• African Americans are generally clustered in the
  Baltimore regions lowest opportunity
  neighborhoods

9
Conditions in Baltimore

• Subsidized housing opportunities in Baltimore are
  generally clustered in the regions lowest
  opportunity neighborhoods

10
Follow Up Work with Maryland ACLU

• Outside of the trial we have worked on follow up
  activities with the ACLU
• Looking at foreclosure and rental housing in high
  opportunity areas (identifying potential
  locations to secure affordable housing)
• Looking at the movement of partial consent decree
  movers

11
Cleveland

• Cleveland Opportunity mapping and GIS analysis
  were used in the Cleveland region to assess
  economic opportunities in the region, in relation
  to Minority Business concentrations
• Most MBE's in the region were clustered in
  neighborhoods with declining economic
  opportunity, producing potential impediments to
  business networking and access to markets
• Additional opportunity analysis was used to
  inform regional growth and development policy
  recommendations formulated by the Presidents
  Council of Cleveland, a committee of leading
  political, civic and business leaders in the
  African American community

12
MBE and Projected Job Change 2000-2030
13
MBE and Population Change 1990 to 2000
14
Cleveland opportunity analysis race
15

• Austin, TX

16
Background on the Austin Initiative

• The Central Texas Opportunity initiative was
  initiated by Community Partnership for the
  Homeless and involved a steering committee
  representing a diverse array of organizations in
  the Central Texas region
• The committee included representatives from
• PeopleFund, a regional community development
  financial institution
• Envision Central Texas, a regional planning body
  
• Capital Metro, the regions public transit
  authority
• the Indigent Care Collaborative, a non-profit
  health organization focused on public health
  issues for the poor
• Capitol Area Council of Governments
• United Way Capital Area
• Habitat for Humanity
• and several professors from the University of
  Texas Community Regional Planning and Public
  Health Departments

17
Indicators of Opportunity Austin
18
How is Opportunity Distributed in a Hot Market
City? (Austin, TX) Opportunity in the Austin
region is more centralized (not a hollow region
like Cleveland or Baltimore). Although,
opportunity is more centralized it is still
spatially segregated.
19
An in-depth view of the distribution of high and
low opportunity areas in and around the City of
Austin
20
Linguistically Isolated People and the
Comprehensive Opportunity Map for the Austin
Region
21
Children of Color and Educational Opportunity
22
Public Health and Environmental
Quality Opportunity Map (based on indicators of
public health and environmental quality)
23
Using Opportunity Mapping Data to Explore Linkages

• Example How is the regions public transit
  infrastructure connected to the regions health
  care facilities (clinics, physicians offices,
  hospitals)
• Public transit lines are well connected to public
  health resources in the City of Austin, but
  transit access gaps exist with regard to health
  care resources directly to the west and north of
  the City of Austin

24
(No Transcript)
25
Shared Challenges Viewing Areas of Educational
Opportunity in the State of Ohio
The following map presents areas of high (dark
colors) and low (light colors) educational
opportunity in the State. (Based on index of
school quality and assessment of barriers to
educational attainment). Note that many rural
and urban communities face similar education
challenges.
Map Prepared by the Kirwan Institute for The Ohio
State Economic Access Initiative
26
(No Transcript)
27
Neighborhoods of Opportunity and African American
MalesA Case Study of Seven Metropolitan Regions
28
(No Transcript)
29
Findings

• 2 out of 3 African American males in the seven
  metropolitan areas were found in low opportunity
  communities
• Compared to 1 out 5 White males

30
Youth 14 and Younger

• Similar results were found for younger males, 61
  of African American males under 14 were found in
  low opportunity communities

31
Future Directions

• More statewide projects
• More explicit analysis of identifying declining
  and threshold neighborhoods
• Where are turning point communities
• Where are critical interventions needed
• Tie directly to research
• More on-line mapping applications
• Linking more directly into planning processes
  (statewide planning, regional planning,
  comprehensive planning)