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

Demographic and Contextual Indicators

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