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SACRAMENTO COUNTY

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ELEMENT - Research Document

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Sacramento County Office of Planning & Environmental Review

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INTRODUCTION

During the preparation of the Phase 1 and Phase 2 Environmental Justice (EJ) Elements, staff from the Office of Planning and Environmental Review (PER) collected baseline data on each of the Environmental Justice Communities (EJ Communities) to determine existing community conditions. This research enabled staff to identify EJ-related community issues, particularly those issues that are the result of inequities between EJ Communities and non-EJ areas. This research also enabled staff to prepare an initial list of policies and implementation measures for the Phase 2 EJ Element. This list was later modified in response to comments received during the EJ Element’s public engagement process.

The following sections show the baseline data that PER staff collected for the Phase 1 and Phase 2 EJ Elements. The sections are organized by EJ topic.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction........................................................................................................... 1

Table of Contents ................................................................................................ 2

SECTION 1: REDUCE POLLUTION EXPOSURE................................................ 6

Water Contamination ................................................................................................. 6

Soil Contamination...................................................................................................... 8

Hazardous Waste ....................................................................................................... 9

Air Quality ................................................................................................................. 10

SECTION 2: PROMOTE PUBLIC FACILITIES.................................................. 16

Existing Facilities and Community Amenities............................................................ 16

SECTION 3: HEALTHY FOOD ACCESS ........................................................... 20

Access To Grocery Stores ........................................................................................ 20

Access To Fast Food ................................................................................................ 23

Food Insecurity ......................................................................................................... 24

SECTION 4: SAFE AND SANITARY HOMES.................................................... 25

Inadequate Maintenance........................................................................................... 25

Housing Overcrowding.............................................................................................. 27

Housing Cost-Burdened............................................................................................ 27

SECTION 5: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ................................................................... 29

Pedestrian Network................................................................................................... 29

ADA Standards ......................................................................................................... 32

Amenities (lighting, shading, benches, trash, etc)..................................................... 33

Bicycle Network ........................................................................................................ 36

Provisions of Parks ................................................................................................... 40

Physical Activity Levels ............................................................................................. 44

Active Transportation Users...................................................................................... 45

SECTION 6: CRIME PREVENTION ........................................................... 47

Crime Hotspots........................................................................................... 47

Violent Crime and Property Crime Rates.................................................... 48

Convenience Stores and Liquor Stores ..................................................... 49

SECTION 7: CIVIL ENGAGEMENT ........................................................... 51

Community Demographic Characteristics that Affect Civil Engagement ............................................................................................... 51

Linguistic Isolation ...................................................................................... 51

Lack of Neighborhood and Community Organizations ............................... 52

Highest Education Levels ........................................................................... 52

REFERENCES ........................................................................................... 54

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Average Person’s Job Accessibility (2012)........................................ 15

Table 2: Average Person’s Job Accessibility (2036)........................................ 15

Table 3: Percentage of Dwelling Units within ½ Mile of Grocery Store ...................................................................................................................... 20

Table 4: Percent of Unit within ¼ Mile of Fast Food ........................................ 23

Table 5: Percent of Schools within ¼ Mile of Fast Food ................................... 23

Figure 16: Percentage Housing Cost Burdened Household (2009-2013 ...................................................................................................................... 28

Table 6: Violent Crime Rates per 1,000 Residents.......................................... 49

Table 7: Property Crime Rates per 1,000 Residents ....................................... 49

Table 8: Highest Educational Level ................................................................. 53

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Groundwater Threat Sites ................................................................. 7

Figure 2: Drinking Water Contamination........................................................... 8

Figure 3: Solid Waste Sites (December 2016) ............................................... 9

Figure 4: Hazardous Waste Sites (2012-2014) ............................................ 10

Figure 5: Asthma Emergency Room Visits (2011-2013) ............................ 11

Figure 6: Diesel Particulate Matter (July 2012) ........................................... 13

Figure 7: Pesticides per Square Mile (2012-2014) ...................................... 14

Figure 8: Community Facilities in North Vineyard ....................................... 17

Figure 9: Community Facilities in North Highlands/Foothill Farms and West Arden-Arcade...................................................................................... 18

Figure 10: Community Facilities in South Sacramento................................. 19

Figure 11: North Highlands/Foothill Farms and West Arden-Arcade – EJ Communities Food Access ..................................................................... 21

Figure 12: South Sacramento EJ Community Food Access ....................... 22

Figure 13: Food Insecurity Rates ................................................................. 24

Figure 14: Census Tracts in EJ Communities with Potentially Large Number of Houses Needing Maintenance ................................................... 26

Figure 15: Percent Overcrowded Households (2012-2016) ........................ 27

Figure 16: Percentage Housing Cost Burdened Household (2009- 2013) ............................................................................................................ 28

Figure 17: South Sacramento Priority Sidewalk Areas................................. 29

Figure 18: North Vineyard Priority Sidewalk Areas ...................................... 30

Figure 19: West Arden-Arcade and North Highlands/Foothill Farms Priority Sidewalk Areas ................................................................................ 31

Figures 20, 21 and 22: ADA Ramp Locations ............................................. 32

Figure 23: ADA Ramps per 1,000 Dwelling Units........................................ 33

Figure 24: Average Canopy Coverage.......................................................... 34

Figure 25: Canopy Map................................................................................. 35

Figure 26: Class I Bike Trails per 1,000 Residences................................... 36

Figure 27: Class II Bike Trails per 1,000 Residences.................................. 37

Supporting Research for Sacramento County Environmental Justice Element

Figure 28: Bike and Pedestrian Collisions in North Highlands/Foothill Farms and West Arden-Arcade ........................................................... 38

Figure 29: Bike and Pedestrian Collisions in South Sacramento and North Vineyard ..................................................................................... 39

Figure 30: Bike and Pedestrian Collisions Occurrences per 1,000 Dwelling Units (2004-2014) .................................................................... 40

Figure 31: Percentage of Residences within ¼ Mile of a Park............. 41

Figure 32: Park Access in North Highlands and West Arden-Arcade . 42

Figure 33: Park Access in South Sacramento ..................................... 43

Figure 34: Park Acres per 1,000 Dwelling Units ................................... 44

Figure 35: Average Percentage of Obese Individuals ......................... 45

Figure 36: Average Percentage of People Who Walk to Work (By Census Tract) ........................................................................................ 46

Figure 37: Average Percentage of People Who Bike to Work (By Census Tract) ........................................................................................ 46

Figures 38, 39 and 40: Robbery Hot Spots........................................... 47

Figure 41: Convenience Stores and Liquor Stores per 1,000 Dwelling Units ..................................................................................................... 50

Figure 42: Percent Limited English Speaking Households (2011-2015) ............................................................................................................. 52

SECTION 1: REDUCE POLLUTION EXPOSURE

Staff used CalEnviroscreen 3.0 (CalEnviroscreen) to compile much of the data in this section and in the following sections. Data in CalEnviroscreen is aggregated to the census tract level and thus, staff used the average score (value) of all census tracts in an EJ Community (weighted by population) to determine the overall score for an EJ Community. Staff also used this method to attain scores for non-EJ areas. Scores of EJ Communities were then compared with those of non-EJ areas.

WATER CONTAMINATION

Groundwater Threats

Public water systems that rely on groundwater serve many areas in Sacramento County. However, sources such as industrial operations, leaking underground storage tanks, irrigated agricultural land and confined animal feeding operations can potentially contaminate groundwater basins.

In determining groundwater threats, CalEnviroscreen uses data from GeoTracker, a State Water Resources Control Board database that identifies sites that impact or potentially impact water quality. CalEnviroscreen assigns a score to each cleanup site, applies a weight to the site based on the type and then adjusts the score based on the site's distance from urban areas. Each census tract was scored based on the sum of the adjusted scores of cleanup sites that are within the census tract.

The North Highlands/Foothill Farms EJ Community had the highest score for groundwater threats (Figure 1: Groundwater Threat SitesFigure 1) among EJ Communities and non-EJ areas. The large number of military cleanup sites at the former McClellan Air Force Base (an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site) contributes to the high score. There are 326 areas of known and suspected contamination at McClellan but many of the identified sites have completed remediation or are in the process of remediation. The North Vineyard EJ Community score is misleading because this score is based on a geographic area (census tract) that does not match the EJ Community’s boundaries. Many of the groundwater threat sites in the census tract are in the City of Sacramento (within or near the former Sacramento Army Depot). The South Sacramento EJ Community and the West Arden-Arcade EJ Community have cleanup sites. Some of these contributed to relatively high groundwater threat scores for particular census tracts within these EJ communities.

Figure 1: Groundwater Threat Sites (2016)

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: CalEnviroscreen, 2017

Drinking Water Contamination

Residents in unincorporated Sacramento County receive their drinking water from a wide variety of sources and distribution systems. However, the quality of that drinking water could vary based on where a person lives in the County. Location, water source, treatment method and the water district’s ability to remove contaminants all impact drinking water quality.

Drinking water contamination is a threat to public health because it can potentially result in widespread exposures. There are many ways that contaminants can be introduced into the water system, including natural occurrences, accidents, industrial releases, and agricultural runoff (CalEPA, 2017). Low income and rural communities can be disproportionately exposed to drinking water contaminants such as nitrate from fertilizer or animal waste, pesticides, perchlorate, and arsenic.

CalEnviroscreen assigns a drinking water contamination index score to a census tract based on existing contaminant concentration levels and the presence of multiple contaminants. However, the index scores do not indicate whether water is safe to drink within a census tract (CalEPA, 2017). According to the CalEnviroscreen 3.0 Report, California water systems have a high rate of compliance with drinking water standards (CalEPA, 2017). The State Water Resources Control Board reported that in 2014, water systems serving only about 2.9 percent of California’s population were in violation of one or more drinking water standards (SWRCB, 2016). However, a census tract may include many different public drinking water sources and thus, the assigned index score for a census tract may not reflect water quality existing in different portions of the census tract.

Drinking water contamination scores are shown in Figure 2. Each of the EJ Communities have a higher score than non-EJ areas.

Figure 2: Drinking Water Contamination (2005-2013)

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: CalEnviroscreen, 2017

Between 2012 and 2017, the State Water Resources Control Board cited eight water providers in unincorporated Sacramento County for violating the California Safe Drinking Water Act. Most of these were small water systems located in the Sacramento Delta. One of the remaining water providers was in the South Sacramento EJ Community while the others were in non-EJ areas. The water provider within the South Sacramento EJ Community serves approximately 7,600 residents, which is 11 percent of all residents in the South Sacramento EJ Community. Thus, unsafe drinking water is not a widespread issue within EJ Communities.

SOIL CONTAMINATION

Solid Waste

To determine solid waste site scores for census tracts, CalEnviroscreen uses CalRecycle data on landfills and other solid waste disposal facilities. The indicator applies a weighted score to each facility based on type, amount of processed waste and existing violations. Facility scores were then aggregated to the census tract level.

As compared to other EJ Communities and non-EJ areas, the North Vineyard EJ Community had a much higher indicator score (46.75). North Highlands/Foothill Farms had the second highest score at approximately 0.83. This disproportionality is caused by the presence of numerous solid waste facilities within or near North Vineyard with a corresponding scarcity of such facilities in the other areas. Due to the enormity of its score, the North Vineyard EJ Community is not included in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Solid Waste Sites (December 2016)

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: CalEnviroscreen, 2017

HAZARDOUS WASTE

To determine hazardous waste scores for census tracts, CalEnviroscreen uses data from the State Department of Toxic Substances Control. Individual hazardous waste sites were assigned scores based on their type and permit status. The scores were then aggregated to the census tract level.

In comparison to other EJ Communities and non-EJ areas, the North Vineyard EJ Community had the highest hazardous waste site score (7.59). The existence of a large number of solid waste sites within West Vineyard contributes to the high score. Due to the enormity of its score in comparison to the other areas, North Vineyard is not shown in Figure 4.

The Sacramento County General Plan Hazardous Materials Element contains several existing policies and implementation measures that are applicable to Sacramento County’s land use decisions and ongoing efforts by State and federal agencies to remediate hazardous waste contamination. No additional policies are needed.

Figure 4: Hazardous Waste Sites (2012-2014)

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: CalEnviroscreen, 2017

AIR QUALITY

The three main categories of air pollutants include Criteria Air Pollutants, Toxic Air Contaminants (TACs), and Greenhouse Gases (GHGs). Criteria Air Pollutants include ozone and ozone precursors (hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides), and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5). TACs are air pollutants that can cause serious health effects from exposure at extremely low levels; these include benzene, asbestos, inorganic arsenic, chloroform, and particulate matter from diesel-fueled engines and many more that can be found within the Toxic Air Contaminant Identification list (https://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/id/taclist.htm) from the California Air Resources Board. GHGs include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor.

Sacramento County lies within the Sacramento Valley Air Basin (SVAB). The geography and weather patterns of the SVAB are conducive to high air pollution levels. The mountain ranges surrounding the valley are natural air current barriers, which restrict most of the circulating winds of lower elevations from mixing and dispersing air pollutants of the valley. Sacramento is also subject to thermal air inversions, especially during the summer and fall months, wherein a layer of cool air is overlain by warmer air. In addition, solar radiation from the abundant sunshine in Sacramento acts as a catalyst to drive chemical reactions between atmospheric pollutants such as reactive hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides; the result is photochemical smog. Thus, the combination of these factors makes the Sacramento area especially susceptible to high levels of air pollution.

EJ Communities are disproportionately exposed to air pollution due to the prevalence of industrial land uses, pesticide application on agricultural land uses and high traffic volume roadways.

Asthma

Exposure to high levels of traffic and air pollutants such as particulate matter, ozone, and diesel exhaust can result in higher rates of asthma onset and asthma aggravation. It has been documented that air pollution is an asthma trigger for some asthmatics. People who live, work or go to school near major roads have an increased incidence and severity of health problems in addition to asthma such as cardiovascular disease, impaired lung development in children, childhood leukemia, and premature death. Sensitive receptors such as children, older adults, and those with preexisting medical conditions are especially impacted.

According to Figure 5, the average number of asthma related emergency department visits per 10,000 people is much higher in the North Highlands/Foothill Farms, South Sacramento and West Arden-Arcade EJ Communities than they are in the North Vineyard EJ Community and non-EJ areas. In fact, the rate of asthma emergency visits for three of the four EJ Communities are among the worst in the state. The rates for the North Highlands/Foothill Farms and South Sacramento EJ Communities are among the highest 10 percent in the state. The rate for West Arden-Arcade is among the highest 20 percent.

The higher prevalence of asthma-related emergency room visits in the three EJ Communities could be due to their proximity to high volume roadways. The North Highlands/Foothill Farms and West Arden-Arcade EJ Communities contain Interstate 80 while the South Sacramento EJ Community contains State Highway 99. West Arden-Arcade is also bounded on the east by Watt Avenue which has a very high volume of traffic compared to other thoroughfares in the County. With the presence of high volume roadways within their boundaries, many census tracts in the North Highlands/Foothill Farms, South Sacramento and West Arden-Arcade EJ Communities score in the top third tier in the state for traffic density (vehicle km/hr divided by total road length).

Figure 5: Asthma Emergency Room Visits (2011-2013)

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms. Source: CalEnviroscreen, 2017

Ozone

Ozone is a form of oxygen that is extremely reactive. We are protected from the sun’s ultraviolet rays by ozone in the upper atmosphere. However, because of its highly reactive nature, ozone is the primary component of smog in the lower atmosphere. Smog is created when ozone reacts with other air pollutants in the presence of sunlight. Ozone levels usually vary during the day with the highest levels in the afternoon and on hot days.

With ozone pollution, breathing becomes restricted when the muscles in the lung airways become constricted and air in the alveoli is trapped. The physical response of this condition is wheezing and shortness of breath. Long-term exposure to ozone pollution could result in worsening of asthma symptoms and could potentially cause asthma. Long-term exposure to high concentrations of ozone pollution can result in permanent lung damage, such as abnormal lung development in children and decreased lung function (EPA, 2018).

According to the American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2018 report, Sacramento County during 2014 to 2016 was the 14[^th] most ozone-polluted county in the nation with 31.8 unhealthy zone days. The level of ozone pollution in the County is not greater in EJ Communities than in non-EJ areas but generally increases with elevation when pollution from urbanized areas in lower elevations travel to the foothills and become trapped.

Diesel Particulate Matter

Diesel particulate matter (diesel PM) is emitted by diesel engines and is comprised of very small particles, or “soot” coated with numerous organic compounds (California Air Resources Board). Both on-road and off-road sources such as trucks, buses, cars, ships, and locomotive engines emit diesel particulate matter. The concentration of these sources near ports, rail yards and freeways, results in these areas having high levels of diesel PM. Exposure to diesel PM has numerous adverse health effects which includes irritation to the eyes, throat and nose, cardiovascular and pulmonary disease, and lung cancer. Diesel engine emissions are responsible for about 70 percent of California’s estimated known cancer risk associated with toxic air contaminants (California Air Resources Board).

As shown in Figure 6, EJ Communities with the exception of North Vineyard have higher levels of diesel PM than non-EJ areas. Freeways with their high traffic volumes are a major source of diesel particulates in EJ Communities. Interstate 80 extends through the North Highlands/Foothill Farms EJ Community and is adjacent to the West Arden-Arcade EJ Community. State Highway 99 extends through the South Sacramento EJ Community. Extensive segments of these freeways are adjacent to residential areas.

Figure 6 also shows the South Sacramento EJ Community having the highest level of diesel PM. Besides Highway 99, another likely contributor of diesel PM in South Sacramento is truck traffic caused by industrial businesses within the community. Many of these businesses are adjacent to residential neighborhoods. This results in operating trucks in industrial areas reducing the air quality of adjacent residential neighborhoods. Trucks traveling to and from industrial areas can also reduce air quality of neighborhoods that are adjacent to truck routes.

Figure 6: Diesel Particulate Matter (July 2012)

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Od Foothill Farms Source: CalEnviroscreen, 2017

Pesticides

A significant portion of Sacramento County consists of agricultural areas. Pesticides applied in agricultural areas can drift into neighboring communities and cause illness and, in some cases, longer-term health conditions such as birth defects or cancer. The Agricultural Resources Element of the General Plan contains several policies that require buffers between agricultural land uses and incompatible land uses to prevent undue exposure and to protect farmland from urban encroachment. However, encroachment of urban development into agricultural areas often results in the placement of conflicting land uses adjacent to each other.

CalEnviroScreen uses records from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation to determine pesticide scores for census tracts. A pesticide score for a census tract is determined by dividing the number of pounds per square mile of select active ingredients in pesticides during 2012-2014 by the area of the census tract.

In comparison to other EJ Communities and non-EJ areas, the South Sacramento EJ Community had the highest pesticide score (Figure 7). This was unexpected because South Sacramento has a limited amount of agriculturally zoned land. The North Vineyard EJ Community, which does have a large amount of agricultural land, had the second highest score. North Highlands/Foothill Farms and West Arden-Arcade has no agricultural lands.

Figure 7: Pesticides per Square Mile (2012-2014)

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: CalEnviroscreen, 2017

Job Access by Car and Transit

The Sacramento Area Council of Government (SACOG) has an Equity and Choice Chapter in its 2016 Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS). This chapter contains an assessment of job accessibility from Low Income/High Minority areas in both the 2012 base year and the 2036 project year. Using their travel model, SACOG determines the amount of jobs (total and medical) that the average person within each EJ Community could travel to within a 30-minute drive or a 45-minute transit ride. The MTP/SCS anticipates an expanded transit network in 2036, which will increase accessibility to jobs by transit.

In comparison to other EJ Communities and non-EJ areas, the West Arden-Arcade EJ Community has the highest number of jobs accessible to community residents (Table 1 and Table 2). This is due to West Arden-Arcade’s proximity to downtown Sacramento. Improved transit (as well as improved bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure) will reduce the number of people who commute by single occupancy vehicles, which could, reduce pollutants associated with a high volume of traffic such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, benzene, and carbon monoxide.

Table 1: Average Person’s Job Accessibility (2012)

Source: Sacramento Area Council of Governments, 2016

Table 2: Average Person’s Job Accessibility (2036)

Source: Sacramento Area Council of Governments, 2016

SECTION 2: PROMOTE PUBLIC FACILITIES

EXISTING FACILITIES AND COMMUNITY AMENITIES

Many public services are provided by special districts that are not directly accountable to the County of Sacramento. Therefore, it is important to focus this section on the aspects of public facilities that the County does control. For example, the County can guide the siting of new public facilities in new growth areas. The operation and maintenance of existing facilities, however, is usually under the purview of the relevant special district or County agency responsible for those types of facilities.

Staff assessed existing public facilities in EJ communities. This assessment focused on facilities that act as community amenities or sites of emergency service providers. Staff mapped these facilities as well as residential areas in each EJ community (Figure 8, Figure 9 and Figure 10). The Physical Activity section covers parks and pedestrian/bicycle facilities.

Public Schools

In Sacramento County, there are 14 school districts serving approximately 244,394 students. Each school district is independently governed and operated. These school districts are responsible for the operation of 413 public schools ranging from pre-kindergarten to post-secondary education. Seven school districts serve the County’s EJ Communities. There are two high schools in the North Highland/Foothill Farms EJ Community and one high school each in the West Arden-Arcade and South Sacramento EJ Communities. Due to its higher population, South Sacramento should have more than one high school but many students within this EJ Community attend high schools that are within the City of Sacramento. Elementary schools are generally well distributed throughout the EJ Communities (except for North Vineyard) but it appears that some neighborhoods (particularly in South Sacramento) are lacking an elementary school.

Public Libraries

Libraries are also a critical public service and a signature of a healthy community that define quality of life for the businesses, families and individuals that live in the community. In Sacramento County, 28 library facilities are managed by the Sacramento Public Library Authority, a joint powers authority consisting of representatives from the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the County. Public libraries provide free access to reading material, homework zones (tutoring services offered), adult learning (adult literacy assistance and GED services), makerspace (creating music, virtual and real-world designs, etc.) and other items for check out from crafting machines to yard equipment.

The Arcade Public Library is within the West Arden-Arcade EJ Community. There is no public library in the North Highlands/Foothill Farms EJ Community but the North Highlands/Antelope Library is adjacent to the community’s northern boundary. However, due to its location, residents who live in the southern half of the EJ Community may have difficulty accessing this library. Three libraries serve the South Sacramento EJ Community. The Colonial Heights Library serves residents in the northern portion of the EJ Community, the Southgate Library serves residents in the central portion, and the Valley Hi - North Laguna Library (not shown in Figure 10) serves residents in the southern portion.

Emergency Facilities

Emergency facilities such as sheriff and fire stations are also shown in the Community Amenities Maps. Sheriff’s stations act as local hubs for the County’s Sheriff Department in the community. While the Sheriff’s Department provides specialized law

enforcement services to the whole County, it acts as a local police force in the unincorporated areas. Fire stations are under the control of whatever fire district is responsible for that area. Fire districts provide emergency medical rescue and fire protection services in their jurisdiction. Like park districts, fire districts can either function as independent or dependent districts. All fire districts in the County, other than the Natomas Fire District, operate as independent districts.

Each of the EJ Communities (with the exception of North Vineyard) has at least one Sheriff's station within or near its boundaries. North Highlands/Foothill Farms has a station serving the North Highlands portion of the community while another station that is adjacent to the community's eastern boundary serves the Foothill Farms portion. West Arden-Arcade and South Sacramento EJ Communities each have one centrally located Sheriff's station. The northern portion of the South Sacramento EJ Community is near a City Police Station (not shown on Figure 10).

The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District (Sacramento Metro Fire) serves all of the North Highlands/Foothill Farms, North Vineyard and West Arden-Arcade EJ Communities and the southern half of the South Sacramento EJ Community. The Sacramento City Fire Department (City Fire) serves the northern half of the South Sacramento EJ Community. The service areas for both Sacramento Metro Fire and City Fire are divided into districts based on response times from a fire station.

Figure 8: Community Facilities in North Vineyard

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Figure 9: Community Facilities in North Highlands/Foothill Farms and West Arden-Arcade

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Source of Data: Sacramento County GIS, 2017

Figure 10: Community Facilities in South Sacramento

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SECTION 3: HEALTHY FOOD ACCESS

ACCESS TO GROCERY STORES

The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) collects data on the location of grocery stores in the County. According to the data, there is a much higher percentage of dwelling units located within a half a mile of a grocery store within EJ Communities (except for North Vineyard) than within non-EJ areas (Table 3). This trend is especially notable in the South Sacramento EJ Community where there are a large number of small ethnic markets. North Vineyard is a rural area that currently has no grocery stores.

Table 3: Percentage of Dwelling Units within ½ Mile of Grocery Store

Source: Sacramento Area Council of Governments, 2017

Figure 11: North Highlands/Foothill Farms and West Arden-Arcade – EJ Communities Food Access

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Figure 12: South Sacramento EJ Community Food Access

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ACCESS TO FAST FOOD

Studies are mixed on whether having easy access to fast food leads to higher obesity and diabetes rates. There is no clear connection between adult obesity and access to fast food restaurants (Jeffery et al., 2006). Because people have cars and thus have a wide variety of food sources to choose from, they may choose a healthy food option even though this option may be farther away than a fast food restaurant. However, studies have shown that having fast restaurants near schools particularly in disadvantaged areas can lead to higher obesity rates among school children (Davis and Carpenter, 2009; Turbutt et al., 2019). Because they lack access to a car, schoolchildren have fewer options to choose from and thus are more of a "captive audience" for fast food restaurants.

Table 4 shows the number and percentage of dwelling units within a quarter mile of a fast food restaurant in EJ Communities and non-EJ areas. The table shows that a large percentage of dwelling units (40 percent) within North Highlands/Foothill Farms and West Arden Arcade are within walking distance of a fast food restaurant as compared to the percentage of units within non-EJ areas (19 percent). Table 5 is similar to Table 4 but it shows the number and percentage of schools within a quarter mile of a fast food restaurant. In West Arden-Arcade and North Highlands/Foothill Farms, 50 percent and 40 percent of the schools are within a quarter mile of a fast food restaurant. These percentages are more than twice that in non-EJ areas.

Table 4: Percent of Unit within ¼ Mile of Fast Food

Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: Sacramento Area Council of Governments, 2017

Table 5: Percent of Schools within ¼ Mile of Fast Food

Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: Sacramento Area Council of Governments, 2017

FOOD INSECURITY

Though access to grocery stores in EJ Communities is generally higher than in non-EJ areas, EJ Communities have a problem with food insecurity (Figure 13). Food insecurity is the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways. Feeding America conducts an annual study to estimate the number of food insecure people and the percentage of the population that experienced food insecurity at some point during a given year. According to their estimates, both the food insecurity rates and the food insecurity population are significantly higher in West Arden Arcade, North Highlands/Foothill Farms, and South Sacramento EJ communities than in non-EJ areas. Of the County-wide food-insecure population, Feeding America found that the majority of households which were considered food insecure were actually above the Federal poverty level used for nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC) and would not be eligible for assistance. Households that earn too much to qualify for Federal nutrition assistance programs but are still food insecure must choose between competing priorities such as housing, utilities and medical expenses.

The North Vineyard EJ Community serves as the contradiction to the baseline data conditions above. As a rural community which has been targeted for new growth, this community is estimated to have a food insecurity rate that is similar to that of non-EJ areas.

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Source: Feeding America, 2017

SECTION 4: SAFE AND SANITARY HOMES

INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE

Older homes have an increased likelihood of having major maintenance issues due to aging material and normal wear and tear. If homeowners with major maintenance issues are low income, it is likely that they would not have the personal resources to maintain their homes. For this reason, staff developed two criteria for identifying areas (census tracts) within the EJ Communities that potentially have a large number of homes that are inadequately maintained. The first criterion is having at least 80 percent of homes built before 1980. The second criterion is having at least 60 percent of households having annual incomes less than double the Federal poverty level.

Figure 15 shows the census tracts in EJ Communities that meet both criteria. Three of the four EJ Communities have large areas with older homes and lower-income residents. In the North Highlands/Foothill Farms EJ Community, the census tracts consist of McClellan Airbase and the residential area located east of Watt Avenue. There are limited residential units within the former base; this map should primarily focus on the residential area outside of the base. In the West Arden-Arcade EJ Community, the census tracts are located in the northern portion of the EJ Community. In the South Sacramento EJ Community, census tracts are near the town of Florin, or in the Fruitridge “Pocket” area, an older area that is adjacent to the City of Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood.

The 2010 Sacramento County Housing Conditions Survey (Survey) identified census tracts in the unincorporated County with high percentages of older homes and low-income residents to determine areas for housing condition field surveys (exterior only). The Survey identified five clusters of census tracts that may have housing maintenance issues, of which three are in EJ Communities. The other two clusters are semi-rural or rural areas west of North Highlands and in the Sacramento River Delta.

Figure 14: Census Tracts in EJ Communities with Potentially Large Number of Houses Needing Maintenance

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms/Old Foothill Farms

HOUSING OVERCROWDING

Housing overcrowding is often measured by determining the persons-per-room in a dwelling unit with houses that have more than one person per room considered overcrowded. There are a higher percentage of overcrowded homes in EJ Communities than in non-EJ areas (Figure 15). For all residences, the percentage of homes that are overcrowded in EJ communities is 7 percent while in non-EJ areas the percentage is 3 percent. For renter-occupied residences, the percentage of homes that are overcrowded in EJ communities is 10 percent compared to 6 percent in non-EJ areas. These percentages may not seem high; however, over 5,000 homes are considered overcrowded in EJ Communities.

Figure 15: Percent Overcrowded Households (2012-2016)

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U.S. Census Bureau – American Communities Survey – 5-Year Estimates, 2017

HOUSING COST-BURDENED

When a tenant or homeowner spends more than 30 percent of their income toward housing (including utilities), they are generally considered to be overpaying or cost-burdened. When a household is cost-burdened, there is less money for housing maintenance or other needs such as health care and healthy food.

Each of the EJ Communities has a much higher rate of housing cost-burdened households than non-EJ areas (Figure 16). Among the EJ Communities, West Arden-Arcade has the highest percentage of cost-burdened households (26.4 percent) while North Highlands/Foothill Farms has the lowest percentage (21.3 percent). In contrast, in non-EJ areas, the percentage of housing cost-burdened households is only 15.5 percent.

Figure 16: Percentage Housing Cost Burdened Household (2009-2013)

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms/Old Foothill Farms. Source: CalEnviroscreen, 2017

SECTION 5: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

PEDESTRIAN NETWORK

Pedestrian Facilities Inventory

Sacramento County does not have a comprehensive inventory of pedestrian facilities such as sidewalks, street crossings, lighting, shade trees, or benches. Therefore, assessing the baseline for pedestrian facilities within EJ Communities is difficult. However, in 2007, Sacramento County Department of Transportation (SacDOT) conducted an inventory of pedestrian facilities to document existing conditions within the public rights-of-way as part of the creation of the County’s Pedestrian Master Plan. Not all pedestrian facilities are known to SacDOT and thus the inventory is not comprehensive. SacDOT used the inventory to determine high and low priority areas for sidewalk improvements. The following maps (Figure 17, Figure 18, and Figure 19) show locations of the high and low priority sidewalks improvement areas.

Figure 17: South Sacramento Priority Sidewalk Areas

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Source: Sacramento County Department of Transportation, 2007

Figure 18: North Vineyard Priority Sidewalk Areas

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Source: Sacramento County Department of Transportation, 2017

Figure 19: West Arden-Arcade and North Highlands/Foothill Farms Priority Sidewalk Areas

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: Sacramento County Department of Transportation, 2017

ADA STANDARDS

The SB 1000 toolkit identifies American Disability Act (ADA) accessibility as a recommended indicator to assess pedestrian networks within a community. Figures 20, Figures 20¹ and 22 show the existing ADA ramps in each EJ community. Sacramento County’s ADA Transition Plan also identifies roadway intersections in the County that are in need of ADA curb ramps.

Figures 20, 21 and 22: ADA Ramp Locations

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Source: Sacramento County Department of Transportation, 2017

Figure 23 shows how many ADA ramps are in each community per 1,000 dwelling units. West Arden-Arcade falls well below the other communities.

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North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: Sacramento County Department of Transportation, 2017

AMENITIES (LIGHTING, SHADING, BENCHES, TRASH, ETC)

Sacramento County does not have an exhaustive inventory of street lighting, benches, street landscaping, or trash receptacles. However, Sacramento Tree Foundation has collected tree canopy data for most of Sacramento County as part of the Green Prescription effort. Data was extremely limited in Vineyard and was therefore excluded. This data shows that the average canopy coverage percentage is much lower in North Highlands/Foothill Farms and South Sacramento than the average in non-EJ areas (Figure 24 andFigure 25).

Figure 24: Average Canopy Coverage

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: Sacramento County Department of Transportation, 2007

Research for the Green Prescription effort found that "greater tree canopy was statistically significantly associated (p<0.05) with lower prevalence of overweight/obesity, more leisure vigorous physical activity, better self-reported general health, lower prevalence of asthma, and better neighborhood social cohesion."

Figure 25: Canopy Map

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Source: Sacramento Tree Foundation, 2017

BICYCLE NETWORK

Bicycle Facilities

To encourage bicycle and pedestrian activity, a municipality must provide an adequate amount of bicycle lanes/trails and sidewalks that provide access to desired destinations. Sacramento County does not have a comprehensive inventory of pedestrian facilities such as sidewalks, street crossings, lighting, shade trees, or benches. Therefore, assessing the baseline for pedestrian facilities within EJ Communities is difficult. However, there is a comprehensive inventory of Class I (off-road) and Class II (on-road) bike lanes. Figure 26 and Figure 27 show miles of Class I and Class II bike lanes per 1,000 dwelling units as of 2017.

For Class I bike trails, the amount of bike trail miles per 1,000 dwelling units in EJ Communities is much less than that in non-EJ areas. EJ Communities (except for North Vineyard) are in older developed areas where the amount of open space is limited. Non-EJ areas include parkways (such as the American River Parkway) and other open space areas that make it feasible to establish long segments of off-road bike trails. For Class II bike lanes, the amount of bike lane miles per 1,000 dwelling units in the South Sacramento and North Highlands/Foothill Farms EJ communities are comparable to that in non-EJ areas. However, the amount of bike trails per 1,000 dwelling units in West Arden-Arcade is much less than in the other EJ Communities.

Figure 26: Class I Bike Trails per 1,000 Residences

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms/Old Foothill Farms Source: Sacramento Area Council of Governments, 2017

Figure 27: Class II Bike Trails per 1,000 Residences

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms/Old Foothill Farms Source: Sacramento Area Council of Governments, 2017

Bike and Pedestrian Collisions

Besides providing bike lanes and sidewalks, a city or county must ensure that these infrastructures can be used safely. Recording bike and pedestrian collisions assists in gauging the safety level for walking or bicycling in a community. UC Berkeley developed a collision database called the Transportation Injury Mapping System, which provides information regarding crash data for all of California, which is called the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS). According to the SWITRS a disproportionate amount of collisions within the County’s Urban Services Boundary (USB) involving a bike or pedestrian, occur in EJ Communities. Within the USB, 64 percent of the fatal collisions that has occurred from 2004 through 2014 have occurred in EJ Communities. The following Figures 29 and 30 shows the number of bicycle and pedestrian collisions per 1,000 dwelling units in each EJ Community and in non-EJ areas.

Figure 28: Bike and Pedestrian Collisions in North Highlands. Foothill Farms and West Arden-Arcade

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Source: UC Berkeley Transportation Injury Mapping System, 2017

Figure 29: Bike and Pedestrian Collisions in South Sacramento and North Vineyard

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Source: UC Berkeley Transportation Injury Mapping System, 2017

Staff calculated the number of bike and pedestrian collisions per 1,000 residences for each EJ Community and the non-EJ areas (Figure 30).

Figure 30: Bike and Pedestrian Collisions Occurrences per 1,000 Dwelling Units (2004-2014)

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: UC Berkeley Transportation Injury Mapping System, 2017

PROVISIONS OF PARKS

According to the Sacramento County General Plan, parks define the quality of neighborhoods and communities and provide the setting for active and passive recreation, which benefits the residents of the immediate neighborhood, the larger community, and the broader region. Two ways to measure sufficient parks provision in a community are park accessibility and acreage.

Park Accessibility

According to Figure 31 below, the South Sacramento and West Arden-Arcade EJ Communities have park accessibility that is greater than or equal to that existing in non-EJ areas. These areas have at least 50 percent of their dwelling units being within a quarter mile of a public park. North Highlands/Foothill Farms is the urbanized area that has the least percentage of dwelling units within a quarter mile of a public park. North Vineyard is a rural area and thus does not have neighborhood parks. Figure 32 and Figure 33 shows EJ Community residential areas and quarter-mile buffers around public parks.

Figure 31: Percentage of Residences within ¼ Mile of a Park

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms/Old Foothill Farms Source: Sacramento County GIS, 2017

Figure 32: Park Access in North Highlands and West Arden-Arcade

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms/Old Foothill Farms Source: Sacramento County GIS, 2017

Figure 33: Park Access in South Sacramento

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Source: Sacramento County GIS, 2017

Park Acreage

Though EJ Communities have more dwelling units that are close to public parks than non-EJ areas, non-EJ areas have more park acreage. As shown in Figure 34 the amount of park acres per 1,000 dwelling units is much higher in non-EJ areas than in the EJ Communities. The non-EJ areas have almost 8.5 acres per 1,000 dwelling units and South Sacramento, the EJ Community with the highest acreage amount, has only 5.0 acres per 1,000 dwelling units. The reason for this disproportionality is that communities in the non-EJ areas have large community parks while the EJ Communities lack community parks.

Figure 34: Park Acres per 1,000 Dwelling Units

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms/Old Foothill Farms Source: Sacramento County GIS, 2017

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELS

Obesity

Obesity is a serious health issue and personal involvement in physical activity is one way to prevent obesity. Data on obesity in the County is limited. Sacramento County initially had data for a few census tracks within County including the West Arden-Arcade and South Sacramento EJ Communities. Data was later found for North Highlands/Foothill Farms but data for West Vineyard was still not available. Figure 36 shows obesity rates for the communities where data is available.

Figure 35: Average Percentage of Obese Individuals

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Source: Sacramento County Department of Health Services, 2017, 2018

California has the fifth lowest adult obesity rate in the United States, with 25 percent of adults being obese in 2016 (The State of Obesity 2017). Based on the limited data available, Figure 33 shows that the non-EJ areas obesity percentage is close to the California average, but percentages for West Arden-Arcade, North Highlands/Foothill Farms are South Sacrament are all above the state average.

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION USERS

Biking or walking to work is a way to participate in physical activity on a daily basis. The U.S. Census Bureau collects information regarding means of transportation to work for people over the age of 16. Figure 36 and Figure 37 below identify the percentage of people within each EJ Community and the non-EJ areas that commute to work by walking or biking. All EJ communities have a higher percentage of individuals that walk to work than in non-EJ areas, while North Highlands and West Arden-Arcade also have a higher percentage of individuals that bike to work (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017).

Figure 36: Average Percentage of People Who Walk to Work (By Census Tract)

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2017

Figure 37: Average Percentage of People Who Bike to Work (By Census Tract)

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2017

SECTION 6: CRIME PREVENTION

CRIME HOTSPOTS

LexisNexis has an online Community Crime Map where users can view reported crimes on a map or a table. The Community Crime Map could also identify high crime areas or “hot spots” based on density of incidents. The following maps (Figures 38-40) show the density of robberies on individuals that occurred during a one-year period between November 29, 2016, and November 29, 2017, within EJ Communities. A robbery is a crime of opportunity that often occurs in an area where it is easy to conceal the illegal act due to physical barriers, inadequate lighting or lack of observers. Many robberies occur in parking lots as people walk to or from their cars. Because most robberies occur in certain environments, robbery incidents can be reduced through Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) elements.

Each of the EJ Communities besides North Vineyard has “hot spots” for robberies and a large proportion of these areas have land uses with parking lots. During November 29, 2016, through November 29, 2017, four of the five robbery hot spots in the urbanized unincorporated County were located in EJ Communities. North Highlands/Foothill Farms had two hot spots. There was a large hot spot in an area west of Hillsdale Boulevard between Walerga Road and Palm Avenue. This hot spot included a strip commercial center, apartments and single-family neighborhoods. A smaller hot spot was at the northeast corner of the Elkhorn/Walerga Road intersection and comprised a shopping center and apartments (Figure 40). In West Arden-Arcade, the hot spot was along Edison Avenue between Howe Avenue and Bell Avenue where there are apartments and single-family neighborhoods (Figure 39). In South Sacramento, the hot spot was the Florin Towne Centre, a large shopping center located west of the Florin Road/Stockton Boulevard intersection (Figure 38).

The four robbery hotspots spots have some permanency because these existed in the same area during the previous year. Two of the hotspots (west of Hillsdale Boulevard in North Highlands/Foothill Farms and Florin Towne Center in South Sacramento also existed during the November 29, 2012 to November 29, 2013 time period.

Figures 38, 39 and 40: Robbery Hot Spots

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South Sacramento

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West Arden-Arcade

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North Highlands /Foothill Farms

Source: Lexis Nexis, Community Crime Map, 2017. http://www.communitycrimemap.com/

VIOLENT CRIME AND PROPERTY CRIME RATES

The following Table 6 and Table 7 show the violent crime and property crime rates per 1,000 residents during 2016 for geographic areas that include EJ Communities. The tables also show the rates for the combined Sacramento County Sheriff’s (SCS) and Sacramento City Police Department (CPD) service areas.

Each of the geographic areas in Table 6 had higher rates of violent crimes than the combined SCS and CPD service areas. Fruitridge/Stockton Boulevard (includes a large portion of the South Sacramento EJ Community) had a violent crime rate that was over 60 percent over the SCS/CPD combined service areas. While Arden-Arcade (includes the West Arden-Arcade EJ Community) and North Highlands/Foothill Farms had violent crime rates that were over 12 and 18 percent over the SCS/CPD combined service areas respectively.

Supporting Research for Sacramento County Environmental Justice Element

For property crimes (Table 7), only Arden-Arcade had a higher rate of property crimes (25 percent higher) than the SCS/CPD combined service areas. North Highlands/Foothill Farms and Fruitridge/Stockton Boulevard had property crime rates that were about 13 percent lower than the rate in the SCS/CPD combined service areas.

Table 6: Violent Crime Rates per 1,000 Residents

Notes: (1) Arden Arcade includes West Arden-Arcade EJ Community and portion of Arden-Arcade east of Watt Avenue (2) North Highlands/Foothill Farms consistent with North Highlands/Foothill Farms EJ Community boundaries (3) Fruitridge/Stockton Boulevard includes South Sacramento EJ Community south of 47th Avenue and portions of City of Sacramento (Parkway, Valley Hi) Source: LPC Consulting Associates, Inc. for Black Child Legacy, 2018

Table 7: Property Crime Rates per 1,000 Residents

Notes same as Table 6 Source: LPC Consulting Associates, Inc. for Black Child Legacy, 2018

CONVENIENCE STORES AND LIQUOR STORES

Some land uses tend to have more crime occurring within their vicinity than other uses. Generally, commercial areas tend to have more crime than low-density residential areas or mixed-use areas. More specifically, high density of alcohol outlets in low income areas are associated with higher rates of violent crime as shown in a number of studies (Scribner et al. 1995, Gruenewald et al. 2006, Roman et al. 2008). That is, more assaults, domestic violence and other violent crimes occur when there are bars, liquor stores, and other alcohol-selling places clustered together in low-income areas.

Two factors probably contribute to the above situation. The first factor is that these businesses create a perception of social disorder - broken bottles littered around a

liquor store and a parking lot full of cars with people drinking alcohol gives the impression that the normal rules about orderly behavior are not enforced (Stewart). The second factor is that a high density of alcohol outlets attracts individuals who are more inclined to be violent while at the same time attracts individuals who are more vulnerable to being assaulted. Besides causing more crime, studies have shown that a high density of alcohol outlets contributes to other alcohol-related problems such as drinking and driving, higher rates of pedestrian injuries caused by vehicles, and child abuse and neglect (Stewart).

The location and density of potential crime-attracting land uses such as convenience stores and liquor stores were identified in EJ Communities and non-EJ areas. Figure 42 shows the number of convenience stores and liquor stores that have off-sale liquor licenses (License Types 20 and 21) per 1,000 dwelling units in each of the EJ Communities and in non-EJ areas. EJ Communities have a much higher number of these types of business per 1,000 dwelling units than non-EJ areas.

Figure 41: Convenience Stores and Liquor Stores per 1,000 Dwelling Units

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: County of Sacramento Sheriff’s Department, 2018

SECTION 7: CIVIL ENGAGEMENT

COMMUNITY DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS THAT AFFECT CIVIL ENGAGEMENT

<u>Population by Race and Ethnicity</u>: While the County of Sacramento is a kaleidoscope of ethnic and cultural diversity with approximately 1.5 million people, there is a much larger concentration of minority residents within the Environmental Justice (EJ) Communities. For example, in South Sacramento more than 70 percent of the community population belongs to an ethnic or racial minority. Any public engagement effort in EJ Communities must take into account the ethnic and racial diversity that exists in these communities.

<u>Languages Spoken and English Proficiency</u>: A diversity of languages exist in EJ Communities and there are different levels of English Proficiency. For example, the most common primary languages in North Highlands/Foothill Farms include English, Spanish, Russian, Other Slavic languages and Tagalog. In North Vineyard, common languages include, English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese. South Sacramento is the only community area where a majority of the population does not speak English as their primary language (See Linguistic Isolation sub-section below). It also has the most diversity of primary languages.

<u>Population by Age</u>: According to the U.S. 2010 Census data, the age of the population throughout EJ communities and non-EJ areas are relatively consistent. However, other age demographic findings give the County a better understanding of how to present and communicate with particular areas. For example, in the South Sacramento and North Highlands/Foothill Farms EJ Communities there is a higher percentage of persons under the age of 20 while conversely in non-EJ areas, there is a higher percentage of persons over the age of 60.

LINGUISTIC ISOLATION

Linguistically isolated households are those where no one over age 14 has English proficiency. These households are often disadvantaged when trying to attain important information that affects their lives. Adults lacking a command of English may not be able to comprehend health care information that they need or comprehend important directions when there is an emergency. Lacking a command of English may also keep members of a household from participating in public meetings on issues that affect their quality of life. For this reason, the percent of linguistic isolation households in a community often indicates the potential for civil engagement in that community if traditional public engagement methods such as English only public meetings are used.

Figure 43 shows the percentage of limited English speaking households during 2011 to 2015 in each of the EJ Communities and the non-EJ areas. Among the EJ Communities, South Sacramento has the highest percentage (17.4 percent) while West Arden-Arcade has the lowest percentage (6.3 percent). All of the EJ Communities have higher percentages of limited English speaking households than in non-EJ areas (4.6 percent).

Figure 42: Percent Limited English Speaking Households (2011-2015)

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Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms Source: CalEnviroscreen, 2017

LACK OF NEIGHBORHOOD AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

Neighborhood and community organizations play an important role in the public decision-making process. Individuals in these organizations represent members of the community who cannot or will not attend meetings where decisions are made (often held after a long day at work). Neighborhoods that are disadvantaged often lack representation in the decision-making process that results in public decisions made without being vested by neighborhood residents. In contrast, the more advantaged neighborhoods are represented by a community or neighborhood association that protects the interest of the neighborhood during the public decision-making process. This results in decisions that are oftentimes influenced by neighborhood representatives.

This situation exists in the unincorporated Sacramento County where most neighborhoods in EJ Communities are not represented by a neighborhood or community association while most neighborhoods in non-EJ areas do have such organizations.

HIGHEST EDUCATION LEVELS

The highest education level of residents within the EJ communities significantly varies from those in non-EJ areas. According to Table 8 below, there is a much lower percentage of residents in EJ Communities that have bachelor or post-bachelor degrees than the percentage of residents in non-EJ areas (with the exception of West Arden-Arcade). Conversely, there is a much higher percentage of residents in EJ Communities that have no high school diploma than the percentage of residents in non-EJ areas.

Table 8: Highest Educational Level

Note: North Highlands includes Foothill Farms and Old Foothill Farms. Source: US 2010 Census

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Supporting Research for Sacramento County Environmental Justice Element

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