The opportunity mapping project (OM 1.0) developed in 2005 at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at the Ohio State University, under the leadership of john powell has been revised and upgraded to OM 2.0. Our model, similar to OM 1.0, identifies indicators which are research based and represent neighborhood conditions, and develops measures which can transform data to represent opportunity. These indicators are assigned to a set of domains, such as Education, Economics and Health, which capture the extent of an individual’s life outcomes, quality of life, and capabilities. These domains and indicators are aggregated and averaged to quantify opportunity. A set of baseline filters ensures that lower opportunity tracts are objectively delineated. This is our OM model 2.0. We applied this framework to our CTCAC Opportunity Mapping project.
Some of the projects utilizing this framework are:
- Opportunity Mapping 2.0 model: We tested our model using a set of indicators and applied filters to identify the “High Poverty and Racial Segregation” category. We developed a test webmap to visualize the data and allow users to interact with it.
- CTCAC Opportunity Mapping: Equity Metrics and its partners, California Housing Partnership (CHPC) and the Terner Center for Housing Innovation (Terner Center) were convened as a research team in 2017 by California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC), tasked with identifying an appropriate data-driven tool for measuring and mapping opportunity within the state. The resulting CTCAC/HCD Opportunity Map has since been used by these state agencies to guide the siting of an affordable housing tax credit, and to advance two specific Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) objectives - increasing access to opportunity and replacing segregated living patterns with integrated and balanced living patterns. Equity Metrics and its partners reconvene annually to update the data and adjust indicators based on the most current research literature, refine the mapping interface and methodology, and incorporate suggestions and revisions based on feedback from policy makers and stakeholders.
- Mapping Opportunity and Upzoning in California: Researchers from Equity Metrics and the California Housing Partnership (CHPC) utilized available data and research on opportunity mapping to create an online, interactive map of California to inform statewide zoning reform legislative proposals by creating and publishing an evidence-based approach to identifying opportunity-rich, exclusive areas most appropriate for up-zoning. The mapping tool provides data and evidence-based framing around the types of neighborhood characteristics policymakers should consider to ensure zoning reform encourages more housing production in high-opportunity and jobs-rich areas, and does so in ways that could make the state more inclusive and help meet environmental goals by reducing commute distances. The maps were created as a collaboration between the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, the Urban Displacement Project at the University of California, Berkeley, and CHPC. This project was made possible by the generous support of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI).
- Opportunity Scenario Modeling (ongoing): Based on our “Mapping Opportunity and Upzoning in California” project, we are working on developing policy scenarios in education, transit etc. where a select set of indicators could identify tracts with their level of access to opportunity specific to the policy context.
