1. PEOPLE, PLACE, &
OPPORTUNITY
Mapping Communities of
Opportunity in
Massachusetts
May 29, 2009
Massachusetts State House
Jason Reece AICP, Christy Rogers &
Samir Gambhir
The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race &
Ethnicity
The Ohio State University
Reece.35@osu.edu
Funded by Massachusetts Legal Services Programs

2. Section 1
Introduction
 Today’s discussion
 Opportunity matters
(Christy)
 Mapping opportunity
(Samir)
 Why and how…
 Opportunity mapping in
MA (Jason
 How do you remedy
opportunity isolation
(Jason)

3. Section 2
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

4. 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
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5. 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?
5

6. DEVELOPMENT, HEALTH AND
WELL BEING
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7. 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

8. 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?

9. Section 3
Mapping Opportunity: Why and How
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

10. 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

11. Opportunity Mapping
 Education Quality and Opportunity
 Student Expenditures
 Student Poverty Rate
 Test Scores for Schools
 Graduation and Dropout Rates
 Teacher Qualifications

12. Opportunity Mapping
 Economic Health and Transportation
 Unemployment Rates
 Population on Public Assistance
 Proximity to Employment
 Employment Change: 2000-2005
 Mean Commute Time

13. Opportunity Mapping
 Neighborhood Stability and Health
 Home Values
 Neighborhood Vacancy Rates
 Crime
 Neighborhood Poverty
 Home Ownership Rate
 Proximity to Toxic Waste Sites
 Superfund Sites

14. Comprehensive Opportunity Map

15. Comprehensive Opportunity Map: Greater Boston

16. Comprehensive Opportunity Map: Northeastern Massachusetts

20. 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

21. 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

22. Access to Opportunity: Race

28. 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

29. 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

31. 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

32. Subsidized Housing and Communities of
Opportunity
Comprehensive Opportunity Map: Southeastern Massachusetts

34. 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

35. Residential Foreclosure and Opportunity
Distribution of Residential Factors Across the Community Opportunity Spectrum

41. Reflecting on these findings….
 What does our analysis find and suggest?
 Peopleof 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?

42. What can opportunity maps be
used for…..
 Fair housing (Baltimore)
 Counseling and advocacy (Chicago)
 Regional collaboration on issues of education
and housing (Austin)
 Assisting with grant making and targeting
resources or programming

43. Section 4
Remedying Opportunity Isolation
 Adopt strategies that open up access to levers
of opportunity for marginalized
individuals, families, and communities
 Bring opportunities to opportunity-deprived areas
 Connect people to existing opportunities throughout the
metropolitan region
 Invest in people, places, and linkages

44. People, Places and Linkages

45. Example: Neighborhood
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Revitalization
A systems response
 Where are your key
leverage points?
 What are the critical
intervention points?
 Equity focused
 Creating a
community for all (not
a model of
gentrification)
 Emphasis on
strategic
collaboration

46. Example: Opportunity Based
Housing -
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Integration into Opportunity
 Rethink fair housing…
 Not just integration but integration into
opportunity
 Inclusive fair housing means access to good
schools, jobs, doctors, child care,
transportation, parks, and the civic fabric

47. Section 5
Intervention Strategies for Building Opportunity
Communities
 Strategies for community-activists, policy-
makers, and researchers
 Adopt an opportunity-based approach to community
development
 Adopt an opportunity-based approach to housing
advocacy
 Support both in-place and mobility-based strategies to
affirmatively provide access to opportunity
 Adopt a multi-disciplinary, collaborative approach to
advocacy

48. Strategic Opportunities for
Change
 Design strategies that are sensitive to
the unique challenges and strategic
opportunities of each community
 e.g.strategies for an undercapitalized city
might focus on vacant property while
strategies in a hot market city might focus
on regional affordable housing

49. To access this report and other resources please
visit us on-line at: www.kirwaninstitute.org
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