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Measuring and mapping neighborhood opportunity: A comparison of opportunity indices in California

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  • Noli Brazil
  • Jenny Wagner
  • Raziel Ramil

Abstract

Backed by decades of empirical research, there has been increasing acknowledgment in policy, practice and research of the importance of neighborhood opportunity in shaping well-being. This has led to the proliferation of opportunity maps in cities throughout the United States with the purpose of identifying low opportunity neighborhoods in need of investment and intervention and high opportunity neighborhoods that can offer access to resources and amenities to disadvantaged population groups. By explicitly linking investment to the identification of neighborhoods that are high or low in opportunity, opportunity indices have the potential to help transform local and regional landscapes of spatial inequality. Despite this common goal, indices rely on varying theoretical conceptualizations, data, variables, and statistical approaches. How much these opportunity definitions overlap has yet to be fully examined. In this study, we compared five approaches to measuring neighborhood opportunity in California. We found low to moderate overlap across the indices, with disagreement higher for low opportunity designations. As with any quantitative analysis, opportunity mapping is not a purely technical exercise and requires a series of subjective decisions. The only way to validate these decisions is for opportunity measures to be constructed transparently and vetted by the research community. This study is a first step in this process.

Suggested Citation

  • Noli Brazil & Jenny Wagner & Raziel Ramil, 2023. "Measuring and mapping neighborhood opportunity: A comparison of opportunity indices in California," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 50(3), pages 757-775, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:50:y:2023:i:3:p:757-775
    DOI: 10.1177/23998083221129616
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Carolina K. Reid, 2019. "Rethinking “Opportunity” in the Siting of Affordable Housing in California: Resident Perspectives on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 645-669, July.
    2. Casey J. Dawkins, 2017. "Putting Equality in Place: The Normative Foundations of Geographic Equality of Opportunity," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 897-912, November.
    3. Seth E. Spielman & Joseph Tuccillo & David C. Folch & Amy Schweikert & Rebecca Davies & Nathan Wood & Eric Tate, 2020. "Evaluating social vulnerability indicators: criteria and their application to the Social Vulnerability Index," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 100(1), pages 417-436, January.
    4. Arcaya, Mariana C. & Tucker-Seeley, Reginald D. & Kim, Rockli & Schnake-Mahl, Alina & So, Marvin & Subramanian, S.V., 2016. "Research on neighborhood effects on health in the United States: A systematic review of study characteristics," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 16-29.
    5. Galster, George C., 2019. "Making Our Neighborhoods, Making Our Selves," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226599854.
    6. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren & Lawrence F. Katz, 2016. "The Effects of Exposure to Better Neighborhoods on Children: New Evidence from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(4), pages 855-902, April.
    7. Elijah Knaap, 2017. "The Cartography of Opportunity: Spatial Data Science for Equitable Urban Policy," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 913-940, November.
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