Healthy Communities Assessment Tool

East Thomas

East Thomas is a neighborhood in the Smithfield community, north of I-59/20 and south of Village Creek, east of Thomas and west of Enon Ridge. It originated as an unplanned extension of the company town of Thomas, housing mostly African American workers at the Thomas Furnaces and the nearby East Thomas Railroad Yard.

Indicator Details

Indicators	Primary Domain	Indicator Value	Rank	Tier	Indicator Weight
Walkability	Neighborhood Characteristics	56.3	45	Middle	4.00
Voter Participation	Social Cohesion	7.6%	15	Top	1.00
Visual Property Nuisances	Blight	14.9%	53	Middle	5.00
Violent Crime	Health Systems and Public Safety	64.2	21	Top	4.00
Vacancy Rates	Housing	26.8%	81	Bottom	1.00
Tree Cover	Natural Areas	1.9%	61	Middle	1.00
Travel Time to Work	Employment Opportunities	21.5	32	Top	1.00
Transit Accessibility	Transportation	4.7	51	Middle	4.00
Toxic Releases from Facilities	Environmental Hazards	100.0%	75	Bottom	1.00
Tax Delinquent Properties	Blight	19.1%	50	Middle	5.00
School Readiness Scores	Educational Opportunities	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
School Proximity to Traffic	Environmental Hazards	33.3%	99	Bottom	1.00
Residential Proximity to Traffic	Environmental Hazards	21.1%	95	Bottom	1.00
Residential Mobility	Social Cohesion	97.9%	2	Top	1.00
Reading Proficiency	Educational Opportunities	13.4%	41	Middle	3.00
Public Health Nuisances	Health Systems and Public Safety	105.3	83	Bottom	4.00
Public Assisted Households	Employment Opportunities	30.1%	26	Top	1.00
Proximity to Superfund Sites	Environmental Hazards	4.4%	62	Middle	1.00
Proximity to Brownfield Sites	Environmental Hazards	15.5%	94	Bottom	1.00
Preventable Hospitalizations	Health Systems and Public Safety	-	-	Data N/A	1.00
Preschool Enrollment	Educational Opportunities	11.2%	69	Bottom	3.00
Pedestrian Connectivity	Transportation	127	34	Middle	4.00
Pedestrian & Bicycle Injuries by Motor Vehicles	Health Systems and Public Safety	0.3	67	Bottom	4.00
Payday Loans	Economic Health	2	82	Bottom	1.00
Offsite Alcohol Outlets	Neighborhood Characteristics	0	1	Top	1.00
Motor Vehicle Collisions	Health Systems and Public Safety	20.4	86	Bottom	4.00
Low Birth Weight	Health Systems and Public Safety	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
Long-Term Unemployment	Employment Opportunities	3.7%	48	Middle	1.00
Local Business Vitality	Economic Health	61.9%	41	Middle	1.00
Land Use Mix	Neighborhood Characteristics	0.6	39	Middle	1.00
Infant Mortality Rate	Health Systems and Public Safety	5.6	7	Top	1.00
Household Transportation Costs	Transportation	24.2%	43	Middle	4.00
High School Graduation Rate	Educational Opportunities	80.6%	15	Top	3.00
Food Desert	Neighborhood Characteristics	85.7%	52	Middle	2.00
Excessive Housing Cost Burden	Housing	13.1%	1	Top	1.00
Employment Rate	Employment Opportunities	83.9%	57	Middle	1.00
Commute Mode Share	Transportation	18.0%	43	Middle	4.00
Chronic School Absence	Health Systems and Public Safety	10.2%	15	Top	1.00
Business Retention	Economic Health	-8.7%	49	Middle	1.00
Blood Lead Levels in Children	Housing	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
Age of Housing	Housing	89.7%	75	Bottom	1.00
Adult Educational Attainment	Educational Opportunities	80.6%	38	Middle	3.00
Access to Parks and Open Space	Natural Areas	95.6%	47	Middle	1.00
Access to Mainstream Financial Services	Economic Health	38.4%	32	Top	1.00
Abandoned Structures	Blight	20.6%	92	Bottom	5.00

Demographic and Contextual Indicators

	Neighborhood	City Wide
Racial and Ethnic Diversity	0.3	0.44
Population	977	210,616
Park Quality	96.3
Life Expectancy	70.3	78.8
Income Inequality	0.4	0.49
Concentrated Poverty	25.1%	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.