Healthy Communities Assessment Tool

Ensley Highlands

Ensley Highlands is a neighborhood in Birmingham's Five Points West community. It is bounded by the neighborhoods of Belview Heights, Central Park, Fairview, Tuxedo, and Ensley.

Indicator Details

Indicators	Primary Domain	Indicator Value	Rank	Tier	Indicator Weight
Infant Mortality Rate	Health Systems and Public Safety	21.3	95	Bottom	1.00
Residential Proximity to Traffic	Environmental Hazards	15.7%	93	Bottom	1.00
Age of Housing	Housing	92.3%	86	Bottom	1.00
Travel Time to Work	Employment Opportunities	28	85	Bottom	1.00
Voter Participation	Social Cohesion	4.2%	81	Bottom	1.00
Excessive Housing Cost Burden	Housing	47.2%	79	Bottom	1.00
Abandoned Structures	Blight	16.1%	73	Bottom	5.00
Access to Mainstream Financial Services	Economic Health	26.8%	71	Bottom	1.00
Proximity to Superfund Sites	Environmental Hazards	11.6%	69	Bottom	1.00
Motor Vehicle Collisions	Health Systems and Public Safety	8.3	67	Bottom	4.00
Tree Cover	Natural Areas	0.6%	65	Middle	1.00
Residential Mobility	Social Cohesion	80.4%	65	Middle	1.00
High School Graduation Rate	Educational Opportunities	75.8%	65	Middle	3.00
Chronic School Absence	Health Systems and Public Safety	26.4%	64	Middle	1.00
Public Assisted Households	Employment Opportunities	51.7%	61	Middle	1.00
Preschool Enrollment	Educational Opportunities	14.9%	61	Middle	3.00
Adult Educational Attainment	Educational Opportunities	76.5%	57	Middle	3.00
Visual Property Nuisances	Blight	16.8%	57	Middle	5.00
Food Desert	Neighborhood Characteristics	100.0%	56	Middle	2.00
Pedestrian & Bicycle Injuries by Motor Vehicles	Health Systems and Public Safety	0.2	55	Middle	4.00
Violent Crime	Health Systems and Public Safety	87.2	49	Middle	4.00
Toxic Releases from Facilities	Environmental Hazards	75.4%	48	Middle	1.00
Payday Loans	Economic Health	0.6	47	Middle	1.00
Tax Delinquent Properties	Blight	18.6%	47	Middle	5.00
Employment Rate	Employment Opportunities	85.0%	46	Middle	1.00
Access to Parks and Open Space	Natural Areas	96.3%	45	Middle	1.00
Public Health Nuisances	Health Systems and Public Safety	64.9	44	Middle	4.00
Vacancy Rates	Housing	19.1%	43	Middle	1.00
Offsite Alcohol Outlets	Neighborhood Characteristics	0.2	40	Middle	1.00
Long-Term Unemployment	Employment Opportunities	2.9%	38	Middle	1.00
Transit Accessibility	Transportation	6.3	30	Top	4.00
Household Transportation Costs	Transportation	23.4%	29	Top	4.00
Commute Mode Share	Transportation	22.8%	27	Top	4.00
Walkability	Neighborhood Characteristics	75.3	25	Top	4.00
Business Retention	Economic Health	0.0%	22	Top	1.00
Reading Proficiency	Educational Opportunities	18.1%	15	Top	3.00
Land Use Mix	Neighborhood Characteristics	0.7	9	Top	1.00
Local Business Vitality	Economic Health	82.0%	9	Top	1.00
Pedestrian Connectivity	Transportation	182	7	Top	4.00
School Proximity to Traffic	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
Blood Lead Levels in Children	Housing	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
Low Birth Weight	Health Systems and Public Safety	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
School Readiness Scores	Educational Opportunities	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00

Demographic and Contextual Indicators

	Neighborhood	City Wide
Income Inequality	0.4	0.49
Concentrated Poverty	32.1%	30.9%
Life Expectancy	68.5	78.8
Population	4,757	210,616
Racial and Ethnic Diversity	0.3	0.44
Park Quality	74.5

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.