Social Dimension
Overview
The social well being of a neighborhood is dependent upon many interconnected
issues. Neighborhoods with a desirable quality of life are economically and socially
diverse and self-sufficient, have healthy populations with a mix of older and younger
residents, are served by strong public schools, and have residents that are involved in
community or neighborhood based civic organizations. These neighborhoods provide strong
role models for youth and opportunities for young people to be involved in a variety of
after-school activities. The social vitality of a neighborhood is one dimension of a
comprehensive assessment of neighborhood quality of life.
Results
Stable NSAs have few social needs. Threatened NSAs exhibit moderate levels of social
stress and fragile NSAs have high rates of social distress. Individual NSA scores, as well
as the geographical pattern of the results are presented in Figures 8 and 9 and Tables 6
and 7.
Of the 173 NSAs, 95 were stable, 53 were threatened and 25 were
fragile. In broad terms, most suburban NSAs are classified as stable. Conversely, the
concentration of fragile and threatened NSAs are uniformly focused in north and west side
CWAC neighborhoods. The one notable exception is a swath of threatened NSAs that extends
along Independence Boulevard from the inner city into the east side of Charlotte.
In reviewing and interpreting the social dimension, it is critical
to remember that individual NSA scores reflect unique differences between NSAs as well as
general patterns of problems within communities. Consequently, it is important to
acknowledge that variables are often related and do not act with complete independence.
For example, low scores on competency exams are generally coupled with high rates of
births to adolescents and low levels of youth opportunity. Thus, related variables
exhibiting similar scores signal a need to target specific populations or problem areas in
a NSA.
Social need is only one component of neighborhood quality of life. Nevertheless, the
social categorization helps isolate communities that have the greatest needs. Individual
variable scores help to pinpoint specific problems and identify which organizations are
best qualified to address those deficiencies. By tracking specific scores over time,
progress towards established goals can be assessed and communities strengthened.
Table 6. CWAC Social Dimension Rating
Table 7. NSA Social Dimension Rating
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