building communities of opportunity in massachusetts

THE GEOGRAPHY OF OPPORTUNITY

Building Communities of Opportunity in MassachusettsFebruary 26, 2009

Harvard Law School

Cambridge, MA

Jason Reece, AICPSenior Researcher

The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity

The Ohio State University

Reece.35@osu.edu

Presented by The Boston Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society and the Racial Justice Program of the American Civil Liberties Union

Introduction

Background on this project Origins (SR symposium) KI mapping and legal services

Today’s discussion Opportunity matters Mapping opportunity

Why and how… Opportunity mapping in MA

Results The intersection of opportunity

race and class Opportunity, housing and the

foreclosure crisis

Section 1

Opportunity Matters: Space, Place, and Life Outcomes

“Opportunity” is a situation or condition that places individuals in a position to be more likely to succeed or excel.

Opportunity structures are critical to opening pathways to success:

High-quality education Healthy and safe environment Stable housing Sustainable employment Political empowerment Outlets for wealth-building Positive social networks

Section 2

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Opportunity Matters: Neighborhoods & Access to Opportunity

Five decades of research indicate that your environment has a profound impact on your access to opportunity and likelihood of success

High poverty areas with poor employment, underperforming schools, distressed housing and public health/safety risks depress life outcomes A system of disadvantage Many manifestations

Urban, rural, suburban People of color are far more

likely to live in opportunity deprived neighborhoods and communities

Which community would you choose? To be safe and have positive health outcomes? For your kids to receive a quality education? Which community would be better for employment and have a more sustainable tax base?

What are the implications of opportunity isolation?

Individual Poor economic outcomes, lower educational

outcomes, degraded asset development Poor health conditions, higher exposure and risk

from crime Psychological distress, weak social and professional

networks Community/Economy

High social costs, distressed and stressed communities, fiscal challenges

Weakened civic engagement and democratic participation

Underdeveloped human capital, poor labor outlook, poor economic development prospects

Inequality has a geographic footprint

Maps can visually track the history and presence of discriminatory and exclusionary policies that spatially segregate people

Identifying places with gaps in opportunity can help direct future investment and identify structures which impede access to opportunity

Section 3Mapping Opportunity: Why and How

Mapping Opportunity: Why and How

The Kirwan Institute has conducted “opportunity mapping” for states and metropolitan regions across the US

Why identify the “State of Opportunity” How are low-income groups

situated in the State? How are racial and ethnic

groups situated? What can be done to improve

the opportunity landscape?

Opportunity Mapping in Litigation: Thompson v. HUD (Remedial Proposal)

Submitted expert reports in both the liability and the remedy phases of the litigation, on behalf of plaintiffs

Used GIS to analyze current conditions of segregated public housing (liability phase) and frame solutions for desegregation (remedy phase) in a regional context

Mapping Communities of Opportunity: Methods and Indicators

How do you map opportunity? Data representing community conditions

was gathered for neighborhood (census tracts) across the state

Data for all indicators of community conditions was aggregated to the Census Tract level and analyzed to create a comprehensive opportunity index for the census tracts (neighborhoods) throughout the state

The opportunity index is then mapped and census tracts are broken into quintiles based on their opportunity score

Very Low, Low, Moderate, High, Very High

Mapping Communities of Opportunity: Methods and Indicators

Three areas of opportunity were analyzed using GIS mapping capability: Education Quality and

Opportunity Economic Health and

Transportation Neighborhood Stability

and Health

Opportunity Mapping

Education Quality and Opportunity Student Expenditures Student Poverty Rate Test Scores for Schools Graduation and Dropout Rates Teacher Qualifications

Opportunity Mapping

Economic Health and Transportation Unemployment Rates Population on Public Assistance Proximity to Employment Employment Change: 2000-2005 Mean Commute Time

Opportunity Mapping

Neighborhood Stability and Health Home Values Neighborhood Vacancy Rates Crime Neighborhood Poverty Home Ownership Rate Proximity to Toxic Waste Sites Superfund Sites

Comprehensive Opportunity Map

Comprehensive Opportunity Map: Greater Boston

Comprehensive Opportunity Map: Northeastern Massachusetts

Access to Opportunity: Race, Ethnicity, and Class

Racialized isolation from neighborhoods of opportunity is stunning in Massachusetts

Immigrants from Africa and Latin America were found to be disproportionately concentrated in low-opportunity neighborhoods

Racial isolation into low-opportunity neighborhoods is more pronounced than class-based segregation into these communities

Access to Opportunity: Race Racialized isolation from neighborhoods

of opportunity in Massachusetts: More than 90% of African-American and

Latino households in were isolated in the lowest opportunity neighborhoods in the State

Over 55% of Asian households were found in low-opportunity neighborhoods

By contrast, only 31% of White, Non-Latino households were found in low-opportunity neighborhoods

Access to Opportunity: Race

Access to Opportunity: Immigrants Non-native born Africans and Latinos are

disproportionately concentrated in low-opportunity neighborhoods: 42% of European-born and 46% of Asian-

born residents live in low-opportunity neighborhoods

By contrast, more 70% of non-native born African and Latin American residents live in low-opportunity neighborhoods

Access to Opportunity: Class Racial isolation into low-opportunity

neighborhoods is more pronounced than class-based segregation into these communities 42% of low-income White households live in

low-opportunity communities, while 33% live in high-opportunity community areas

By contrast, more than 95% of low-income Latinos, 93% of low-income African-Americans, and 71% of low-income Asians live in low-opportunity communities

Approximately 90% of high-income African-Americans and Latinos live in low-opportunity communities

Subsidized Housing and Communities of Opportunity

Housing is a strategic intervention point into opportunity and advancement However, 100,000 (nearly 76%) subsidized

housing units in the State is in low-opportunity communities

Only 17,000 units (roughly 12%) of subsidized housing are in high-opportunity communities

Subsidized Housing and Communities of Opportunity

Comprehensive Opportunity Map: Southeastern Massachusetts

Residential Foreclosure and Opportunity

Over half of the State’s estimated amount of high-cost HMDA loans, residential foreclosures, and 90-day residential foreclosures were located in low-opportunity neighborhoods

This data shows the strong relationship between poor lending practices, foreclosure, and vacancy, all of which have been disproportionately concentrated in low-opportunity neighborhoods

Residential Foreclosure and Opportunity

Distribution of Residential Factors Across the Community Opportunity Spectrum

Reflecting on these findings…. What does our analysis find and suggest?

People of color are disproportionately concentrated in opportunity deprived communities Which places them within a system of disadvantage that

ultimately impacts life outcomes Creating both an individual and societal tragedy

Subsidized housing reinforces this opportunity isolation Foreclosures will widen the “opportunity divide” in the

State of Massachusetts What are the implications of this challenge and

how can we formulate a response? Opportunity based model of social justice and

community development People, places and linkages

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