Friday's adventure in the computer lab was a frusterating and enlightening look into what divides and unites a neighborhood. We analyzed two neighborhoods: one with one of the highest crime rates in the city, West Englewood, and one with one of the lowest crime rates, Forest Glen. The data, a combination of 2000 Census data and City of Chicago public data, led to the discovery of some common underlying themes. The factors I analyzed were: breakdown of race from the 2000 and 1930 censuses, median household income in 1999, average household size, crime rates, the percent of the community living below the poverty line, and access to public amenities: (police and fire stations, public transportation, schools, community centers, parks, and churches.) Our google maps helped us put everything into a visual perspective and see the unequal allocation of resources.
The first community I analyzed,West Englewood, had one of the highest crime rates in the city: 76th out of 77 neighboroods. The second community I analyzed, Forest Glen, had one of the lowest crime rates in the city: second out of 77 neighborhoods. Interestingly enough, the other students in class commented on how their "bad" neighborhoods were deprived of resources. However, in the case of West Englewood, I believe the opposite rings true. West Englewood and Forest Glen appear to be realitivly similar in size, (while Forest Glen may seem larger at first glance, on closer examination, one can see that much of the area is taken up by a nature preserve,) and yet have an unequal sharing of resources. West Englewood has a plethora of schools in relation to Forest Glen. In addition, West Englewood has double the police stations of Forest Glen (a 2:1 ratio); thus, West Englwood may seem as if it has double the resources. Per area this is true, but if the measuring scale is population, then they are about equal. (West Englewood has 44,994 people, 98% of which are African American; Forest Glen has 17, 875 people, 83% of which are white.) Thus, West Englewood has double the resources for double the people, so it approximately evens out.
Interesting Fact: When studying the figures from the 1930 census, it is interesting to note that both communities started out as predominatly white neighborhoods. (West Englewood was 97% white and Forest Glen was 100% white.) Thus, West Englewood has a dramatic demographic change white Forest Glen has stayed more true to its origins. I believe a possible explanation for this is the neighborhoods locations. Forest Glen, which is farther from Chicago's core, may have experienced less of a "white flight" during the suburbanization period than West Englewood, which is located deeper in the city.
Another factor that gets left behind when comparing two areas are the quality of the resources found in the area. For example, West Englewood appears to have more grocery stores than Forest Glen; however, the quality and selection of these grocery stores may differ vastly. An additional connection that became evident through this research is the relation between a communities income, more specifically the median income and percent of people living below the poverty line, and crime rates. To demonstrate, in West Englewood the median income is 26,424, with 32% of the population living below the poverty line. Here, the crime rate, and those in the neighboring communities are exceedingly high, Whereas the crime rate in Forest Glen the average income is 69,762, with only 3% of the people living below the poverty line.
This also relates to the race segregation discussed above. In West Englewood, the neighborhood with the higher crime rate, 99+% of the community is minority. Similarly, the average family size increases as crime increases. (2.61 people for Forest Glen and 3.61 people for West Englwood.)
No comments:
Post a Comment