Healthy Communities Assessment Tool

East Avondale

East Avondale is a small neighborhood in the Woodlawn community of eastern Birmingham. It lies south of Division Avenue and 1st Avenue South, between the Forest Park, South Avondale and Crestwood North neighborhoods. Annexed into Birmingham in 1910, Avondale was originally a company town built around the Avondale Mills.

Indicator Details

Indicators	Primary Domain	Indicator Value	Rank	Tier	Indicator Weight
Walkability	Neighborhood Characteristics	78.5	17	Top	4.00
Voter Participation	Social Cohesion	6.2%	38	Middle	1.00
Visual Property Nuisances	Blight	17.0%	58	Middle	5.00
Violent Crime	Health Systems and Public Safety	142.3	75	Bottom	4.00
Vacancy Rates	Housing	20.1%	48	Middle	1.00
Tree Cover	Natural Areas	0.5%	69	Bottom	1.00
Travel Time to Work	Employment Opportunities	24.7	51	Middle	1.00
Transit Accessibility	Transportation	8.2	19	Top	4.00
Toxic Releases from Facilities	Environmental Hazards	90.6%	65	Middle	1.00
Tax Delinquent Properties	Blight	11.7%	32	Top	5.00
School Readiness Scores	Educational Opportunities	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
School Proximity to Traffic	Environmental Hazards	0.0%	1	Top	1.00
Residential Proximity to Traffic	Environmental Hazards	0.0%	1	Top	1.00
Residential Mobility	Social Cohesion	69.9%	92	Bottom	1.00
Reading Proficiency	Educational Opportunities	8.9%	73	Bottom	3.00
Public Health Nuisances	Health Systems and Public Safety	46.4	28	Top	4.00
Public Assisted Households	Employment Opportunities	29.0%	24	Top	1.00
Proximity to Superfund Sites	Environmental Hazards	0.0%	1	Top	1.00
Proximity to Brownfield Sites	Environmental Hazards	30.8%	95	Bottom	1.00
Preventable Hospitalizations	Health Systems and Public Safety	-	-	Data N/A	1.00
Preschool Enrollment	Educational Opportunities	25.8%	35	Middle	3.00
Pedestrian Connectivity	Transportation	110	46	Middle	4.00
Pedestrian & Bicycle Injuries by Motor Vehicles	Health Systems and Public Safety	0	1	Top	4.00
Payday Loans	Economic Health	0	1	Top	1.00
Offsite Alcohol Outlets	Neighborhood Characteristics	1.1	67	Bottom	1.00
Motor Vehicle Collisions	Health Systems and Public Safety	0.7	8	Top	4.00
Low Birth Weight	Health Systems and Public Safety	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
Long-Term Unemployment	Employment Opportunities	1.3%	11	Top	1.00
Local Business Vitality	Economic Health	44.2%	82	Bottom	1.00
Land Use Mix	Neighborhood Characteristics	0.6	39	Middle	1.00
Infant Mortality Rate	Health Systems and Public Safety	10.6	26	Top	1.00
Household Transportation Costs	Transportation	23.7%	32	Top	4.00
High School Graduation Rate	Educational Opportunities	72.4%	86	Bottom	3.00
Food Desert	Neighborhood Characteristics	66.7%	24	Top	2.00
Excessive Housing Cost Burden	Housing	29.8%	13	Top	1.00
Employment Rate	Employment Opportunities	92.8%	14	Top	1.00
Commute Mode Share	Transportation	16.5%	49	Middle	4.00
Chronic School Absence	Health Systems and Public Safety	28.2%	69	Bottom	1.00
Business Retention	Economic Health	-17.3%	78	Bottom	1.00
Blood Lead Levels in Children	Housing	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
Age of Housing	Housing	83.0%	46	Middle	1.00
Adult Educational Attainment	Educational Opportunities	78.7%	46	Middle	3.00
Access to Parks and Open Space	Natural Areas	92.5%	51	Middle	1.00
Access to Mainstream Financial Services	Economic Health	15.2%	95	Bottom	1.00
Abandoned Structures	Blight	8.6%	40	Middle	5.00

Demographic and Contextual Indicators

	Neighborhood	City Wide
Racial and Ethnic Diversity	0.6	0.44
Population	949	210,616
Park Quality	57.9
Life Expectancy	74.7	78.8
Income Inequality	0.5	0.49
Concentrated Poverty	29.4%	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.