Healthy Communities Assessment Tool

Oak Ridge Park

Oak Ridge Park is a small neighborhood in the Woodlawn community of eastern Birmingham. It lies between I-20 and U.S. Highway 78, east of Crestwood North and west of Gate City and Eastwood. It includes the Harris Homes housing project and The Park Alloa Apartments, and is near the former Century Plaza Shopping Center.

Indicator Details

Indicators	Primary Domain	Indicator Value	Rank	Tier	Indicator Weight
Walkability	Neighborhood Characteristics	27.5	82	Bottom	4.00
Voter Participation	Social Cohesion	7.7%	13	Top	1.00
Visual Property Nuisances	Blight	28.1%	87	Bottom	5.00
Violent Crime	Health Systems and Public Safety	159.1	77	Bottom	4.00
Vacancy Rates	Housing	16.7%	38	Middle	1.00
Tree Cover	Natural Areas	25.0%	24	Top	1.00
Travel Time to Work	Employment Opportunities	21	25	Top	1.00
Transit Accessibility	Transportation	4.7	51	Middle	4.00
Toxic Releases from Facilities	Environmental Hazards	0.1%	9	Top	1.00
Tax Delinquent Properties	Blight	26.3%	72	Bottom	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	82.0%	54	Middle	1.00
Reading Proficiency	Educational Opportunities	8.4%	76	Bottom	3.00
Public Health Nuisances	Health Systems and Public Safety	22.1	13	Top	4.00
Public Assisted Households	Employment Opportunities	44.2%	50	Middle	1.00
Proximity to Superfund Sites	Environmental Hazards	0.1%	52	Middle	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	34.6%	23	Top	3.00
Pedestrian Connectivity	Transportation	65	64	Middle	4.00
Pedestrian & Bicycle Injuries by Motor Vehicles	Health Systems and Public Safety	0	1	Top	4.00
Payday Loans	Economic Health	1.7	78	Bottom	1.00
Offsite Alcohol Outlets	Neighborhood Characteristics	0.6	53	Middle	1.00
Motor Vehicle Collisions	Health Systems and Public Safety	1.2	11	Top	4.00
Low Birth Weight	Health Systems and Public Safety	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
Long-Term Unemployment	Employment Opportunities	2.8%	36	Middle	1.00
Local Business Vitality	Economic Health	50.0%	69	Bottom	1.00
Land Use Mix	Neighborhood Characteristics	0.6	39	Middle	1.00
Infant Mortality Rate	Health Systems and Public Safety	11.5	28	Top	1.00
Household Transportation Costs	Transportation	23.8%	35	Middle	4.00
High School Graduation Rate	Educational Opportunities	72.4%	86	Bottom	3.00
Food Desert	Neighborhood Characteristics	60.0%	22	Top	2.00
Excessive Housing Cost Burden	Housing	52.4%	90	Bottom	1.00
Employment Rate	Employment Opportunities	78.0%	78	Bottom	1.00
Commute Mode Share	Transportation	13.2%	58	Middle	4.00
Chronic School Absence	Health Systems and Public Safety	25.5%	51	Middle	1.00
Business Retention	Economic Health	28.6%	8	Top	1.00
Blood Lead Levels in Children	Housing	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
Age of Housing	Housing	83.2%	48	Middle	1.00
Adult Educational Attainment	Educational Opportunities	83.8%	23	Top	3.00
Access to Parks and Open Space	Natural Areas	34.3%	92	Bottom	1.00
Access to Mainstream Financial Services	Economic Health	34.8%	46	Middle	1.00
Abandoned Structures	Blight	12.5%	61	Middle	5.00

Demographic and Contextual Indicators

	Neighborhood	City Wide
Racial and Ethnic Diversity	0.5	0.44
Population	1,716	210,616
Park Quality	18.1
Life Expectancy	75.4	78.8
Income Inequality	0.5	0.49
Concentrated Poverty	39.8%	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.