Healthy Communities Assessment Tool

Wahouma

Wahouma is a neighborhood in the East Lake community of Birmingham. Centered around Wahouma Park, the neighborhood is bounded by 1st Avenue North to the south and I-59 to the north, from the I-20/59 split on the west to 80th Street on the east. It is encircled by the North East Lake, South East Lake, East Lake, South Woodlawn, and Woodlawn neighborhoods.

Indicator Details

Indicators	Primary Domain	Indicator Value	Rank	Tier	Indicator Weight
Payday Loans	Economic Health	0.7	49	Middle	1.00
Business Retention	Economic Health	-3.7%	35	Middle	1.00
Access to Mainstream Financial Services	Economic Health	20.9%	83	Bottom	1.00
Local Business Vitality	Economic Health	50.0%	69	Bottom	1.00
Preschool Enrollment	Educational Opportunities	3.3%	77	Bottom	3.00
Reading Proficiency	Educational Opportunities	13.1%	44	Middle	3.00
Adult Educational Attainment	Educational Opportunities	71.5%	77	Bottom	3.00
High School Graduation Rate	Educational Opportunities	72.4%	86	Bottom	3.00
School Readiness Scores	Educational Opportunities	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
Residential Proximity to Traffic	Environmental Hazards	14.2%	90	Bottom	1.00
Proximity to Brownfield Sites	Environmental Hazards	4.6%	84	Bottom	1.00
School Proximity to Traffic	Environmental Hazards	0.0%	1	Top	1.00
Proximity to Superfund Sites	Environmental Hazards	0.0%	1	Top	1.00
Toxic Releases from Facilities	Environmental Hazards	80.4%	53	Middle	1.00
Long-Term Unemployment	Employment Opportunities	1.5%	14	Top	1.00
Travel Time to Work	Employment Opportunities	20.5	18	Top	1.00
Public Assisted Households	Employment Opportunities	50.2%	59	Middle	1.00
Employment Rate	Employment Opportunities	89.8%	19	Top	1.00
Vacancy Rates	Housing	29.0%	86	Bottom	1.00
Age of Housing	Housing	89.3%	71	Bottom	1.00
Blood Lead Levels in Children	Housing	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
Excessive Housing Cost Burden	Housing	46.3%	75	Bottom	1.00
Preventable Hospitalizations	Health Systems and Public Safety	-	-	Data N/A	1.00
Pedestrian & Bicycle Injuries by Motor Vehicles	Health Systems and Public Safety	0	1	Top	4.00
Public Health Nuisances	Health Systems and Public Safety	90.9	69	Bottom	4.00
Infant Mortality Rate	Health Systems and Public Safety	8.6	17	Top	1.00
Violent Crime	Health Systems and Public Safety	258.8	95	Bottom	4.00
Chronic School Absence	Health Systems and Public Safety	32.1%	83	Bottom	1.00
Low Birth Weight	Health Systems and Public Safety	-%	-	Data N/A	1.00
Motor Vehicle Collisions	Health Systems and Public Safety	19.1	84	Bottom	4.00
Tree Cover	Natural Areas	0.0%	77	Bottom	1.00
Access to Parks and Open Space	Natural Areas	99.1%	36	Middle	1.00
Walkability	Neighborhood Characteristics	76.8	19	Top	4.00
Land Use Mix	Neighborhood Characteristics	0.6	39	Middle	1.00
Offsite Alcohol Outlets	Neighborhood Characteristics	1.5	79	Bottom	1.00
Food Desert	Neighborhood Characteristics	57.1%	20	Top	2.00
Residential Mobility	Social Cohesion	80.5%	64	Middle	1.00
Voter Participation	Social Cohesion	5.3%	50	Middle	1.00
Household Transportation Costs	Transportation	23.6%	30	Top	4.00
Pedestrian Connectivity	Transportation	157	19	Top	4.00
Transit Accessibility	Transportation	9.3	14	Top	4.00
Commute Mode Share	Transportation	20.4%	34	Middle	4.00
Tax Delinquent Properties	Blight	33.7%	93	Bottom	5.00
Visual Property Nuisances	Blight	36.7%	96	Bottom	5.00
Abandoned Structures	Blight	27.2%	99	Bottom	5.00

Demographic and Contextual Indicators

	Neighborhood	City Wide
Income Inequality	0.4	0.49
Concentrated Poverty	43.3%	30.9%
Life Expectancy	70.1	78.8
Population	1,359	210,616
Racial and Ethnic Diversity	0.4	0.44
Park Quality	97.5

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.