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Using Data for City and Regional Strategies 221
are also well-documented. Chapter 7 explores the methodological issues
of understanding neighborhood effects on individuals and households.
Although the mechanisms that are responsible for place-based disparities
in outcomes and access are the subject of research and scientific debate
(Friedrichs, Galster, and Musterd 2003; Sampson, Morenoff, and Gannon-
Rowley 2002; Shinn and Toohey 2003), indicators of well-being cannot
be assumed to be uniform and are likely to vary systematically within
cities and regions. This reality makes data on neighborhoods vital to
guide effective action on many fronts.
Third, social justice concerns have evolved to incorporate injustices
attached to where people live in addition to analyses based on race, class,
gender, or other attributes. By looking at disadvantaged neighborhoods
through an equity lens, the focus shifts from individual deficits to an
understanding of fundamental determinants of disparities in human
well-being. Many of these determinants, such as access to healthy foods
or exposure to interpersonal violence, vary by neighborhood and call for
solutions that rectify the unequal distribution of resources within cities
and regions. Neighborhood data are required both to document and reduce
these place-based disparities, as illustrated by the neighborhood walk
scores and the limited supermarket access area scores described in chapter
3. As another example, the Kirwan Institute at Ohio State University 2
has worked with a number of cities to prepare “opportunity maps” that
use neighborhood data to visualize the clustering of multiple structural
impediments to opportunity (e.g., low-performing schools, inadequate
housing, lack of good jobs). Data on place-based disparities, combined
with scientific evidence that inequality within metro areas is an impediment
to growth (Benner and Pastor 2012), is becoming a potent force in advocating
for policies that address these spatio-structural elements of inequality.
The Sustainable Communities Grant Program described below reflects
this growing awareness of the connections between a thriving economy
and equitable development.
Putting Neighborhood Data to Use
in Cities and Regions
The successful application of neighborhood data to city or regional
concerns requires more than data. It has to start with an awareness of
the emerging issues and conversations that are taking place and where