Healthy Communities Assessment Tool

Bush Hills

Bush Hills is a neighborhood in Birmingham's Five Points West community and includes the subdivision of Owenton, home of Birmingham-Southern College. Bush Hills is named for Thomas Greene Bush, president of the Highland Land Company, which purchased and subdivided most of the property on which the suburb was developed.

Indicator Details

Indicators	Primary Domain	Indicator Value	Rank	Tier	Indicator Weight
Walkability	Neighborhood Characteristics	76.8	19	Top	4.00
Voter Participation	Social Cohesion	4.9%	63	Middle	1.00
Visual Property Nuisances	Blight	10.8%	39	Middle	5.00
Violent Crime	Health Systems and Public Safety	73.5	32	Top	4.00
Vacancy Rates	Housing	25.7%	78	Bottom	1.00
Tree Cover	Natural Areas	4.6%	51	Middle	1.00
Travel Time to Work	Employment Opportunities	20.7	21	Top	1.00
Transit Accessibility	Transportation	3	71	Bottom	4.00
Toxic Releases from Facilities	Environmental Hazards	67.4%	36	Middle	1.00
Tax Delinquent Properties	Blight	13.7%	35	Middle	5.00
School Readiness Scores	Educational Opportunities	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
School Proximity to Traffic	Environmental Hazards	25.0%	98	Bottom	1.00
Residential Proximity to Traffic	Environmental Hazards	3.1%	74	Bottom	1.00
Residential Mobility	Social Cohesion	73.0%	85	Bottom	1.00
Reading Proficiency	Educational Opportunities	18.8%	12	Top	3.00
Public Health Nuisances	Health Systems and Public Safety	90.9	69	Bottom	4.00
Public Assisted Households	Employment Opportunities	47.3%	56	Middle	1.00
Proximity to Superfund Sites	Environmental Hazards	0.0%	1	Top	1.00
Proximity to Brownfield Sites	Environmental Hazards	0.0%	1	Top	1.00
Preventable Hospitalizations	Health Systems and Public Safety	-	-	Data N/A	1.00
Preschool Enrollment	Educational Opportunities	30.9%	28	Top	3.00
Pedestrian Connectivity	Transportation	150	22	Top	4.00
Pedestrian & Bicycle Injuries by Motor Vehicles	Health Systems and Public Safety	0	1	Top	4.00
Payday Loans	Economic Health	1.2	66	Middle	1.00
Offsite Alcohol Outlets	Neighborhood Characteristics	0.9	61	Middle	1.00
Motor Vehicle Collisions	Health Systems and Public Safety	5.5	51	Middle	4.00
Low Birth Weight	Health Systems and Public Safety	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
Long-Term Unemployment	Employment Opportunities	4.2%	62	Middle	1.00
Local Business Vitality	Economic Health	79.4%	12	Top	1.00
Land Use Mix	Neighborhood Characteristics	0.7	9	Top	1.00
Infant Mortality Rate	Health Systems and Public Safety	12.4	45	Middle	1.00
Household Transportation Costs	Transportation	24.0%	38	Middle	4.00
High School Graduation Rate	Educational Opportunities	78.0%	50	Middle	3.00
Food Desert	Neighborhood Characteristics	100.0%	56	Middle	2.00
Excessive Housing Cost Burden	Housing	44.5%	67	Bottom	1.00
Employment Rate	Employment Opportunities	84.0%	56	Middle	1.00
Commute Mode Share	Transportation	21.0%	32	Top	4.00
Chronic School Absence	Health Systems and Public Safety	20.3%	40	Middle	1.00
Business Retention	Economic Health	-12.8%	68	Bottom	1.00
Blood Lead Levels in Children	Housing	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
Age of Housing	Housing	92.7%	88	Bottom	1.00
Adult Educational Attainment	Educational Opportunities	70.0%	84	Bottom	3.00
Access to Parks and Open Space	Natural Areas	54.2%	87	Bottom	1.00
Access to Mainstream Financial Services	Economic Health	45.0%	21	Top	1.00
Abandoned Structures	Blight	13.1%	64	Middle	5.00

Demographic and Contextual Indicators

	Neighborhood	City Wide
Racial and Ethnic Diversity	0.5	0.44
Population	3,345	210,616
Park Quality	40.6
Life Expectancy	70.4	78.8
Income Inequality	0.4	0.49
Concentrated Poverty	19.6%	30.9%

These measures, while clearly significant to community health, may not fit the criteria of “actionable” at the neighborhood level or data may only be available at a city-wide level. Because individual neighborhoods may not have a direct impact on these measures, they have been excluded from the Neighborhood’s overall ranking. However, they are documented to provide “context” for the neighborhood which could potentially identify alternative avenues to improve community health.