Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Panel: Measuring Neighborhood Opportunity

(Social Equity)

Existing research shows that neighborhood conditions influence resident well-being along multiple dimensions, including education, health and economic opportunity. The four papers in this panel improve our understanding of the relationship between neighborhood conditions and economic opportunity by developing indicators to better measure neighborhood opportunity, and by examining how neighborhoods shape poverty, job access and educational opportunity. The first paper, by Mario Small, documents how depopulation in poor neighborhoods within the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas has changed over the past 25 years and how it relates to neighborhood inequality and effects. The second paper (by Painter et al.) proposes three composite neighborhood indicators – (1) Economic Opportunity, (2) Risk and Vulnerability, (3) Connectedness –  to capture a wide-ranging view of interrelated neighborhood conditions, in order to better understand cumulative neighborhood effects on individuals. The final two papers investigate the relationship between location and opportunity. Ann Owens explores how the schools serving students from high- and low-income neighborhoods shape their local educational opportunities. Painter et al. document how job opportunities for youth, especially those who are disconnected from jobs and schools, differ across geographies. Together, these papers provide a deeper insight into how neighborhood conditions are shaped, interrelate, and impact residents and their life trajectories.