Measures for Neighborhood Success
Every neighborhood has the opportunity to be unique and prosper. Thus, each neighborhood will have different metrics for success. However, selecting the right measures requires a thoughtful process to identify what makes your neighborhood distinct—its assets, challenges, demographics, cultural heritage, and economic drivers. By determining this uniqueness, leadership can prioritize metrics that are relevant, actionable, and aligned with community goals, ensuring progress is measurable and sustainable.
Determining Your Neighborhood's Uniqueness
Neighborhood leadership—comprising local residents, business owners, nonprofits, government officials, and other stakeholders—plays a pivotal role in tailoring success measures. The key is to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach and instead root decisions in data, collaboration, and strategic analysis. Drawing from frameworks like Opportunity Collaboratives (public-private partnerships aimed at revitalizing distressed areas through workforce development and community alignment), here are practical ways to determine your neighborhood's uniqueness and select appropriate measures:
Conduct a Comprehensive Community Assessment
Quantitative Analysis: Start with data-driven insights to benchmark your neighborhood against broader trends. Use sources like U.S. Census Bureau data, local economic reports, or tools such as the White House Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) to evaluate metrics like poverty rates, median income, labor force participation, education attainment, and health indicators (e.g., obesity rates or ER visits). For example, in distressed industrial areas like those in Northwest Indiana (where we are working now), assessments might reveal high unemployment among veterans or justice-involved individuals, highlighting workforce opportunity gaps.
Tools: Analyze census tracts for distress levels, as seen in models comparing neighborhood performance to state and national averages (e.g., poverty >13%, labor force participation <65%).
Qualitative Analysis: Gather stories and perceptions through surveys, focus groups, and town halls. Ask residents: What are our strengths (e.g., cultural heritage, proximity to logistics hubs)? What barriers exist (e.g., disinvestment, pollution)? This reveals intangible uniqueness, such as a strong manufacturing legacy or vibrant community networks.
Example: In projects like the Elston Opportunity Hub in Michigan City, assessments identified needs for workforce training in high-demand sectors like manufacturing and healthcare, informed by local data on 23,000 unemployed adults and 6,300 job openings in welding.
Map Local Assets, Ecosystems, and Stakeholders
Create a visual ecosystem map to identify interconnected resources, similar to the Northwest Indiana Workforce Ecosystem diagram. This includes talent development (e.g., schools, apprenticeships), employment services (e.g., job matching, vocational rehab), and opportunity providers (e.g., chambers of commerce, unions).
Engage diverse stakeholders: Form a core leadership collaborative with public (e.g., city officials), private (e.g., employers), and nonprofit partners (e.g., Urban League, food providers). Align on shared priorities, as outlined in Opportunity Collaborative pillars: market-driven service solutions, accessible locations, and diversified funding.
Uniqueness Insight: A neighborhood near industrial clusters (e.g., steel production in East Chicago) might emphasize supply chain resilience, while a rural area focuses on agriculture and tourism.
Identify Core Challenges and Strengths Through Collaborative Roadmapping
Use frameworks like the Opportunity Collaborative Pillars for Success to pinpoint what sets your neighborhood apart:
Market-Driven Analysis: Review trends in outcomes (e.g., high school graduation rates, business startups) and assumptions about issues (e.g., generational barriers in disinvested areas).
Leadership Alignment: Develop a roadmap with committed actions, such as repurposing underutilized assets (e.g., former schools into Opportunity Hubs) or integrating services like career coaching and wraparound supports (childcare, transportation).
Opportunity Lens (revised from "Equity Lens"): Prioritize high-barrier populations (e.g., underemployed, disconnected youth, veterans) and align with policies like employer-led training or federal grants for industrial growth and resilience.
Example: In Waukegan's proposal for workforce collaboratives, leaders identified legacy industrial needs by comparing distress indicators (e.g., median income $50,599 vs. U.S. $67,521), leading to targeted revitalization.
Select and Prioritize Measures Based on Uniqueness
Cross-reference your assessment with the list of measures below. Choose 5-10 that align with your goals—e.g., if workforce participation is a strength but health barriers persist, focus on ER visits and obesity rates.
Set baselines and targets: Use dashboards for tracking, as recommended in EDA proposals for Northwest Indiana, where metrics tie to outcomes like placing 1,000 individuals in jobs.
Ensure Sustainability: Incorporate self-sustaining elements, like revenue from tenant leases in hubs, and diversified funding (25% government, 25% institutions, 50% private/foundations).
By following these steps, neighborhoods can transform data into action, fostering resilience and prosperity tailored to their context.
Listed Measures for Neighborhood Success
Infant mortality
Preterm births
Voluntary pre-K enrollment
Kindergarten readiness
Free/reduced lunch
Cost of child care
High school graduation rate
College graduates
Labor force participation
Crime rate
ER visits for violence, accidents, poisonings
Reported child abuse and neglect cases
Number of arrests of minors
Alcohol, tobacco, drug arrests, overdoses, deaths
Convictions of mothers
Workforce participation of mothers
Single-parent households
Middle-class households
Per capita income
Rent-burdened households
Population
Median workforce age
Overweight and obesity rates
Voter turnout
Economic impact of new developments
Housing demand rate by type
Percentage of housing units occupied
Percentage of commercial sq ft occupied
Number of new business startups
Percent completion of priority initiatives
While overall, a city should measure progress with its citywide dashboard, we encourage neighborhoods to post a scorecard showing change in the progress they define wanting - and outwardly report the completion of the steps committed to action. For instance, in Opportunity Hubs like those in Michigan City and East Chicago, success might be tracked through job placements in sectors like healthcare (5,200 openings) or logistics, alongside community renewal metrics like reduced unemployment and increased skilled labor for new industries. This approach not only measures success but builds momentum for long-term revitalization.