Chart of the Week: Alabama Transit Justice

To add equity data to the national dialogue about growth and prosperity, every week the National Equity Atlas team posts a new chart from the Equity Atlas related to current events and issues.

This week we are highlighting the importance of public transportation in connecting low-income residents and people of color to quality jobs. In cities and regions across the country, rapidly increasing housing costs and stagnant wages have forced many residents to move further away from the urban core in order to find affordable housing options. As a result, these residents must navigate a “spatial mismatch,” or making choices between neighborhoods with affordable housing or with employment opportunities that pay family-sustaining wages. This spatial mismatch can be a barrier to employment for many, particularly those reliant on public transit.

Over the last year, PolicyLink and PERE have been working with nonprofit partners in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, and Louisiana as part of a project to advance employment equity in southern states. The disparities in commute time in Alabama illustrate how important access to public transportation is in leveling the playing field for having access to quality jobs. Alabamians who travel to work in a private vehicle have comparable commute times regardless of race. However, those residents that get to work on public transit have a markedly different commute. The commute time for Black Alabamians is almost 20 minutes longer than that of their White counterparts.

Alabama is one of only five states that provide no state funding to supplement federal and local transportation funding. Without any state investment in the public transportation infrastructure, transit operators have been forced to cut service to certain neighborhoods and steadily increase fares in order to make necessary repairs. This lack of connectivity also further isolates rural residents and hinders their ability to access employment centers. Given that people of color are more likely to rely on public transit to get around in Alabama, disinvestment and underfunding of the state’s bus systems creates an additional barrier to employment and achieving economic security.   

Thankfully, there are policy alternatives that could enhance the public transit infrastructure in Alabama. Advocates there are promoting a public transportation trust fund to supplement the federal allocation that the state receives. The legislation recently passed the state house of representatives and is currently pending approval in the state senate.

To see the average commute time for your community, visit the National Equity Atlas and type in your city or state. Download and share the chart on social media.

National Equity Atlas: February Update

Dear Atlas users:

Greetings from the National Equity Atlas team! We have been busy updating all of our indicators and are excited to share this new data with you. We are also relaunching our Chart of the Week series adding equity data to the discussion about current events and issues. And we welcomed two new staff to our team: Jamila Henderson, a senior associate at PolicyLink, and Edward Muna, a data analyst at PERE, who you can expect to hear more from in the coming weeks.

Access 2015 Data for Your Community
In September, $201 billion: That's the potential economic boost that the Houston metro economy could have gained in 2015 if there were racial equity, up from $165 billion in 2010. Go to the Atlas to get this data point - and many more - for your community. Most of our 34 indicators are now updated to reflect the latest Census microdata release (the 2011-2015 pooled data from the American Community Survey), and in many case you can see change over time between 2000, 2010, and 2015. Visit http://www2.policylink.org/e/78532/indicators/681q6h/356661236.

Join Our Team this Summer!
PolicyLink is accepting applications from current graduate students for a full-time Equity Atlas summer internship in our Oakland office. Help us produce new equity analyses and build new community equity data tools with partners in the Bay Area, Buffalo, Louisiana, or elsewhere. Apply here by March 9 and share this opportunity with your networks.

Equity Data Informing Community Action in Battle Creek
Last week, the Atlas team was in Battle Creek, Michigan presenting the findings from the Battle Creek Equity Profile to leaders of the BC Vision initiative during their steering committee retreat. We were happy to share data insights and support the group as they worked with the Kellogg Community College Center for Diversity and Innovation to more deeply embed an equity approach throughout its efforts to build an equitable, thriving city.

Chart of the Week: #BlackFuturesMonth
For the final week of Black History Month/Black Futures Month, Atlas team member Ángel Ross of PolicyLink analyzed the gains in Black income nationally and in Oakland, California if the vision of racial equity were achieved—if we lived in a society where all Black people can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.

In the News…
In an article for Los Angeles Times, L.A. Tenants Union member Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal uses "An Equity Profile of Los Angeles Region" in her opinion piece arguing that planning for transit and affordable housing should focus on the needs of low-income tenants of color, not the production of units, writing, "Without adequate protections to keep low-income tenants in their homes, transit-oriented development might as well be called transit-rider displacement."

Thank you!

The National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)

Chart of the Week: #BlackFuturesMonth

To add equity data to the national dialogue about growth and prosperity, every week the National Equity Atlas team posts a new chart from the Equity Atlas related to current events and issues.

Just in time to celebrate the culmination of Black History Month and Black Futures Month, the National Equity Atlas team is thrilled to relaunch the Chart of the Week series. This week, we are honoring the reality of Black existence and Black joy. Our vision of equity is a society where all Black people can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. To put a dollar amount to the potential gains for the Black population if this vision of equity were achieved, we compared actual Black income to a scenario of racial equity in income for the population ages 16 and older.

Nationally, average Black income was $24,928 in 2015 (as the chart below details). But if Black people had the same age-adjusted income distribution as non-Hispanic Whites, average Black income would be nearly $41,000, an increase of 64 percent. In the City of Oakland, California, average Black income was $30,072 in 2015. But with racial equity, this number would have been over $71,000, a staggering 137 percent increase. The potential gains in Oakland are substantially higher than the national gains because average White income in Oakland is nearly double the average White income nationally. But average Black income in Oakland is just $6,000 more than average Black income nationally, despite being in one of the most expensive metro areas in the country.

Closing racial gaps in wage and employment can be achieved by eliminating discrimination in pay and hiring, boosting educational attainment, and ensuring strong and rising wages for low-wage workers. Policies that focus on these goals are good for families, good for communities, and good for the economy. National Equity Atlas data show that in Oakland, income gains for the Black population are evenly split between an increase in wages and employment, which we measure by the number of hours worked. Strategies that address both factors include ending wage theft and strengthening workers’ rights to organize as well as helping Black entrepreneurs start and scale-up their businesses. With racial equity in wages and employment, Black families would have more money to not just survive, but thrive and plan for the future.

To see the newly updated gains in Black income with racial equity for your community (we just released the 2015 data!), visit the National Equity Atlas and type in your city or state. Download and share the chart on social media using#BlackFuturesMonth and #equitydata.

National Equity Atlas Update

Dear Atlas users:

This year, the National Equity Atlas team was fortunate to work with some of the most talented and devoted equity leaders and advocates across the country to bolster community action with robust data. As 2017 comes to a close, we would like to thank you for being part of our community and share some of the highlights from our year:

  • Data for Community Organizing: When Renters Rise, Cities Thrive
    In September, dozens of cities participated in the #RenterWeekofAction to demand solutions to the renter affordability crisis. Our team partnered with Right to the City, Homes for All, and CarsonWatch to support these actions by producing fact sheets for the nation and 38 cities, and found that if renters paid only what they could afford on rent, they would have an extra $124 billion in their pockets each year, or $6,200 per rent-burdened household. View the fact sheets and check out media coverage in Next City, CityLab, Truthout, and LA Weekly.
  • Advancing Equitable Growth Solutions: Reports and Analyses
    We released several original research reports powered by National Equity Atlas data to make the economic case for racial equity and support the development of the data, tools, and policies that can make it a reality.

Informing Community Action: Equity Profiles

In 2017 our team worked with community partners of cities, counties, and regions from coast to coast to produce 15 equity profiles:

In 2018, we will be deepening and expanding our comparative and place-based research, as well as strengthening the National Equity Atlas tool to further democratize data. We look forward to sharing it with you.

With best wishes for the new year,

The National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)

National Equity Atlas Update

Dear Atlas users:

Happy November from the National Equity Atlas team! We are busy behind the scenes this month updating our data to 2015 for release early next year. We also launched our first report in our employment equity in Southern States series and are gearing up for next week’s webinar focused on data for advocacy. We hope you will join us!

Webinar: Using Data to Support Organizing and Policy Advocacy
Thousands of people in dozens of cities across the country participated in this year’s #RenterWeekofAction, holding actions and assemblies to demand better protections for renters. Join the National Equity Atlas team and Right to the City on December 6 at 12 p.m. P.T. / 3 p.m. E.T. for a webinar about how data supported these efforts. Equity Atlas team members Pamela Stephens and Ángel Ross will describe our analysis, Malcolm Torrejón Chu of Right to the City will discuss communications and messaging strategy, and Josh Butler of Housing Long Beach and Issac Simon Hodes from Lynn United will describe how they used the data in their local campaigns. Register here.

Employment Equity: Putting Georgia on the Path to Inclusive Prosperity
Yesterday, as a part of our work to advance economic inclusion in the South, we released a new report and fact sheet highlighting the importance of employment equity in Georgia. The Atlas team, along with our partners from Partnership for Southern Equity, shared our findings and held a panel discussion with leaders from The Urban League of Greater Atlanta, the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Decide Dekalb Development Authority, and the Atlanta Federal Reserve. Community mobilization was a key theme: panelists and audience members agreed that the data was powerful, and the most pressing need is for community members to use it to demand job solutions from their elected representatives.

In the News…
This past month, National Equity Atlas data was used:

  • To make the case to preserve and expand affordable housing in Texas neighborhoods through proactive policies in The Daily Texan.
  • To demonstrate the school poverty challenges the Denver Public School District is trying to tackle with some of its recent reforms in The Denver Post’s online news hub.
  • To explain how wage disparities between White employees and employees of color can be addressed through empowering youth of color in Vice Impact.


Thank you!

The National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)

National Equity Atlas Update

Dear Atlas users,

Happy October! We’ve had a busy month finishing up several reports, sharing the Atlas with the Urban Sustainability Director’s Network, and supporting the data capacity of the PolicyLink All-In Cities initiative local partners. We are also searching for a new team member and gearing up for several upcoming webinars and events (hope to see you there!) Also, please note that scholarship applications for the PolicyLink Equity Summit 2018 are due November 3.

TODAY: Equitable Economic Development as a Health Equity Strategy
Interested in the intersection between economic inclusion and health equity? Join today’s County Health Rankings & Roadmaps webinar, “Improving Health through Equitable Economic Development and Strategic Partnerships” from 12-1 Pacific/3-4 Eastern. Equity Atlas team member Ángel Ross will share a framework for equitable economic development and the Atlas tool, and the Urban Health Plan located in the Bronx will describe their community-based strategies to improve health by improving livelihoods. Register here.

Webinar: Using Data to Support Organizing and Policy Advocacy
Join the National Equity Atlas team, Right to the City, and CarsonWatch on November 7 at 12pm P.T. / 3pm E.T. for a webinar about how data supported this year’s #RenterWeekofAction efforts. Equity Atlas team members Pamela Stephens and Ángel Ross will describe our analysis, Right to the City Communications Strategist Malcolm Torrejón Chu will discuss messaging strategy, and local community organizers will describe how they used the data in their campaigns. Register here.

Join Our Team: PolicyLink is Hiring a Program Associate
Love the Atlas? Come work with us! PolicyLink is looking for a full-time program associate in our Oakland office to join the National Equity Atlas partnership and Equitable Economy team. The associate will work with community partners in the Bay Area and elsewhere to develop local equity atlases and analyses to inform policy campaigns; produce innovative research on issues of race, place, and economic equity; and further develop the National Equity Atlas. Find the job description and instructions on how to apply here.

Community Indicators Consortium 2017 Summit: November 15-17 St. Petersberg
Gather with other community leaders using data for community action at the annual Community Indicators Consortium conference. The theme of this year’s even is “Information is Power.” Equity Atlas team member Sarah Treuhaft will lead a pre-conference workshop on November 15th on Data Tools for Equity Action. Register here.

In the News…
National Equity Atlas data was used to …


Thank you!
The National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)

National Equity Atlas Update

Dear Atlas users:

It has been an incredible month for getting equity data in the hands of advocates working to build inclusive cities! We were thrilled to provide powerful data to support the #RenterWeekofAction and hope that you find these fact sheets useful as well. We also released two new reports, including a set of design principles for online data tools advancing health equity, and an analysis of how changing demographics by age and race affects education spending. Enjoy!

When Renters Rise, Cities Thrive: National and Local Fact Sheets
Last week, dozens of cities participated in the #RenterWeekofAction to demand solutions to the renter affordability crisis. Our team partnered with Right to the City, Homes for All, and CarsonWatch to support these actions by producing fact sheets for the nation and 38 cities.* While renters are now the majority in the largest 100 cities, they are burdened by rising rents and low wages. If they paid only what they could afford on rent, they would have an extra $124 billion in their pockets each year, or $6,200 per rent-burdened household. View the fact sheets here and check out media coverage in Next City, CityLab, Truthout, and LA Weekly.

Register Now: Webinar on Improving Health through Equitable Economic Development
On October 24, Angel Ross will share the National Equity Atlas and discuss why equitable economic development is critical to advancing health equity on a webinar hosted by the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps project. Join the webinar from 3-4 p.m. Eastern/12-1 p.m. Pacific to learn more about this important intersection between racial economic inclusion and health, and hear about how Urban Health Plan in the Bronx is using economic development as a strategy to improve community health. Register here.

Powering Health Equity Action with Online Data Tools: 10 Design Principles
This month we released a new report in partnership with EcoTrust, Powering Health Equity Action with Online Data Tools. We offer 10 design principles for creating online data tools that can drive community action for health equity, such as: address the root causes of health inequities, disaggregate data to the maximum extent possible, and honor indigenous data sovereignty. The report also shares examples of tools that embody these principles, and tips for applying these principles. As part of the release, we hosted a Twitter chat about the principles, which you can check out (and add to!) here.

New Report: Bridging the Racial Generation Gap Is Key to America's Economic Future
On September 6, we released new analysis examining how the “racial generation gap” between a growing senior population that is predominantly White and a rapidly diversifying youth population affects spending on public education in counties and states. We find that every percentage-point increase in the racial generation gap is associated with a decrease in state and local per-child education spending of around 1.5 percent. Angela Glover Blackwell and Manuel Pastor describe how this relationship increases the urgency of investing in youth in an op-ed in The Hill and journalist Ron Brownstein wrote about our findings in The Atlantic.


Thank you!

The National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)
 

*City fact sheets are available for: Alameda; Atlanta; Baltimore; Birmingham; Boston; Bowling Green, KY; Brooklyn; Charlotte; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Durham; El Paso; Jackson; Long Beach; Los Angeles; Lynn, MA; Miami; Minneapolis; Nashville; Newark; Oakland; Philadelphia; Portland; Providence; Reno; Rochester; San Diego; Santa Ana; Santa Barbara; Santa Rosa; Seattle; Spokane; Springfield; St. Paul; Washington, DC.

National Equity Atlas Updates

Dear Equity Atlas Users,

From Detroit to Raleigh, we are thrilled to be working with so many incredible community leaders and advocates who are innovating new, data-driven approaches to equitable growth. We are also excited about the analyses we are working on to support the upcoming #RentersWeekofAction, and that registration is now open for Equity Summit 2018.

Detroit Equity Profile Powers FoodLab Detroit’s Good Food, Good Jobs Strategy
FoodLab Detroit recently released a photo essay series about its “Good Food, Good Jobs” strategy, which highlights how Detroit food entrepreneurs are using the data in the recent National Equity Atlas Detroit equity profile to inform their definition of success: “We’ve been focused on working with disconnected youth, and we have grown in part specifically because of that,” said Shannon Byrne from Slow Jams at a recent FoodLab Network Gathering. The PolicyLink team is working with FoodLab to support and amplify their triple-bottom-line business model in communities of color. Learn more and see the photo essays here.

Register Now for Equity Summit 2018: Our Power. Our Future. Our Nation
Join PolicyLink and the National Equity Atlas team in Chicago April 11-13, 2018 to envision with 2,000+ other equity advocates, policymakers, and community leaders how to advance transformative change this moment of backlash and regression at the national level. Using data to bolster the case for equity as a moral and economic imperative and advance equitable growth strategies at scale will be a theme throughout the conference. The Equity Atlas team is developing a hands-on Equity Institute training for the Summit and other relevant content which we will share in the coming months. Read the Summit Vision today and register here.

Data for Action: Designing Employment Equity Strategies in the South
The Atlas team has been continuing our research to inform employment equity strategies in five Southern states. This month, we launched our partnership with Rural Forward and the North Carolina Justice Center to develop an agenda for North Carolina. And with our partners the Alabama Asset-Building Coalition and the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Coalition, we held focus groups in Birmingham and Mobile, Alabama, and Atlanta and Douglas County, Georgia to hear directly from residents facing barriers to employment. This qualitative research will complement rigorous data analysis PERE is completing on the potential economic and social benefits of full employment.

Get Ready for #RenterWeekofAction
During the week of September 18-24, members of the Homes for All campaign are calling for renters and all people who believe that housing is a human right to stand up for our communities, defend our homes, and fight for a world where all people have dignified and affordable homes. In preparation for the Renter Week of Action and Education, the National Equity Atlas team is crunching the numbers to include in fact sheets on the importance of renters in 38 cities where actions will be taking place. Click here to learn more about how you can participate.

Online Data Tools Twitter Chat
On September 13, the Atlas team and Ecotrust will be releasing Powering Health Equity Action through Online Data Tools. Authored by Ángel Ross, the report offers up a set of 10 design principles for online data tools intended to advance health equity. It was developed for researchers, advocates, community members, planners, funders, and others interested in building, improving, or investing in such data tools. On September 14 at 2pm E.T. / 11am P.T., join @PolicyLink and @Ecotrust for a Twitter chat with national leaders who are using and designing data tools to drive health equity and community action by following #equitydata.

In the News…
National Equity Atlas data was used to make the case for fair housing policy change, close racial economic gaps, and more this month:


Thank you!
The National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)

FoodLab Detroit Uses Equity Data to Power Its Good Food, Good Jobs Strategy

FoodLab Detroit is a community of food entrepreneurs designing, building, and maintaining a diverse ecosystem of triple-bottom-line food businesses as part of a good food movement that is accountable to all Detroiters.

At their recent Annual Network Gathering, designers, policy experts, food justice activists, FoodLab member businesses and community leaders were invited to brainstorm about how to solve the problem of economic inequality and the rise of the working poor in Detroit by ensuring that good food and good jobs are accessible to all people.

At the beginning of the gathering, Chris Schildt from PolicyLink presented the recently-published Detroit equity profile and key metrics related to the city's demographics, economic vitality, workforce readiness, connectedness and economic benefits. Specifically, that:

  • Poverty rates, including rates of working poverty, are growing throughout the city. 64 percent of residents in 2014 lived living below 200 percent of the poverty level.
  • People of color continue to earn the lowest wages. Since 2000, white workers have seen an average decrease in wages by $2/hour, whereas non-white workers (including black and Latino) have seen an average decrease in wages by $5/hour.
  • Roughly 30,000 youth (95 percent of which are people of color) are disconnected from work or school. Detroit is the city with the largest share of disconnected youth in the United States.
  • The average income for people of color in Detroit would increase by 25 percent with racial equity.

 

In their recap of the event, organizers write, “Armed with this data, we discussed how to build a new economy in Detroit that is equitable, sustainable, prosperous and provides opportunities to restore power and agency back to those communities most marginalized.”

FoodLab Detroit documented the gathering in the photo essay, “Food as a Catalyst for Community Change.”

They have also created a three-part photo essay series about their Good Food, Good Jobs strategy, in which food entrepreneurs are creating an inclusive food economy that empowers individuals and supports their community's vision for a vibrant, thriving economy:

National Equity Atlas Update

Dear Atlas Users,

We hope you are enjoying the end of summer! We had a busy month with the release of five new equity profiles, a national convening on how to design equity data tools for community action, and the release of the All-In Cities Policy Toolkit.

New Equity Profiles Released for Five Communities
Understanding the state of equity in your community is a crucial first step to developing equitable growth strategies, but such comprehensive assessments are rare, especially for smaller communities. With support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the National Equity Atlas team recently released equity profiles for five smaller communities: Las Cruces and Farmington, New Mexico; Biloxi and Sunflower County, Mississippi; and Battle Creek, Michigan. During our June 29 webinar, Jessica Pizarek and James Crowder of PolicyLink shared key findings with the field and local leaders from the five communities described how they would use the data to advance equity efforts.

Powering Health Equity Action with Online Data Tools Convening
On July 10, the National Equity Atlas team and Ecotrust hosted a convening in Portland focused on how data tools like the Atlas can power community action towards health equity. About 40 researchers, advocates, data users, and funders shared learnings and workshopped a set of design principles for online data tools for health equity. One of the panels featured Nathaniel Smith from the Partnership for Southern Equity, Sam Sinyangwe from Campaign Zero/Mapping Police Violence, Julia Sebastian from Race Forward, Cat Goughnour from Prosperity Now, and Antwi Akom from Streetwyze, ISEEED, and the Social Innovation and Urban Opportunity Lab at the University of California, San Franiciso and San Francisco State University. Watch that panel discussion here and look out for a final report on the convening and design principles in the fall.

Chart of the Week: Rollback of St. Louis Minimum Wage Hike Drags Down Missouri Economy
Come August 28, St. Louis’s minimum wage will drop from $10/hour to $7.70/hour, thanks to a new Missouri law that prevents municipalities from enacting higher minimum wages than the state standard. This shortsighted policy harms workers and ultimately the state’s economy since lower wages translate into less spending and higher levels of public assistance for the working poor. It also hinders sorely needed progress toward racial equity, as illustrated by our chart of the week. In St. Louis, median hourly wages for full-time workers has remained $18/hour since 1990, while the wage gap between Black and White workers has doubled. To be the first to view each week's chart, follow @PolicyLink on Twitter and visit the Data in Action section of the National Equity Atlas.

New Resource: All-In Cities Policy Toolkit
Interested in learning more about policy solutions to advance racial inclusion and equitable growth? Check out the new All-In Cities Policy Toolkit released July 13. It provides more information on many of the policy strategies shared on the Atlas including living wage provisions, local and targeted hiring, summer youth employment, housing trust funds, racial equity impact assessments, and more. Click here to view the toolkit launch webinar with a demo on how to navigate the site, and stay tuned for new content!

New Study Shows Less Income Inequality = Greater Economic Resilience
A new article in Regional Studies, by three economists at the University of Idaho exploring the relationship between income equality and economic resilience, found that the risk of recession was lower for more equitable counties during the Great Recession. Why was this the case? Because higher-income households are less likely to spend money locally than lower-income households and because growing consumer debt makes the middle-class more vulnerable. Check out this overview in CityLab, and find this and other resources to make the economic case for equity on the Atlas.

Thank you!

The National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)

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