Mapping Opportunity in California
Mapping Opportunity in California
California policymakers are contemplating state-level zoning reforms to address the mounting housing crisis.
How can reform efforts encourage more housing production in areas of opportunity in ways that could make California more inclusive and also help meet environmental goals by reducing commute distances?
Our organizations undertook this mapping effort to provide data and evidence-based framing around the types of neighborhood characteristics to consider when trying to achieve these goals. We drew on existing research and stakeholder feedback to create maps that are designed to help inform policy debates and community engagement around these critical issues.
However, it is important to note that these maps only address one element of current zoning reform debates--opportunity and employment patterns. Understanding how zoning reform could affect communities vulnerable to displacement or effectively calibrate inclusionary housing components are also important considerations that should be informed by their own stakeholder engagement and research process.
Introduction
Mapping Opportunity in California
This map identifies high-opportunity areas where zoning reform could encourage increased housing production, including housing options for lower-income households, as well as areas where more housing could increase access to jobs and/or reduce commute distances and greenhouse gas emissions.
Read below for scenario details. Click on a tract to see underlying data.
Identifying Areas of Opportunity
Tracts are flagged as High-Opportunity if they rank above the regional (i.e., Metropolitan Planning Organization) average for at least four of the following indicators:
- Share of the population above 200% of the poverty line
- Share of the population (25 years+) with a Bachelor’s degree or higher
- Employment-to-population ratio for the population 20 to 60 years old
- 4th grade reading proficiency in three closest elementary schools
- Share of students not on Free and Reduced Price Meals in the three closest elementary schools
- High school graduation rate in the three closest high schools
Measuring Employment and Commute Patterns
Tracts above the regional (MPO) median are flagged as:
- Jobs-Rich: The number of all jobs within 3 miles of the tract, or jobs that pay less than $40,000 a year within 3 miles
- Long In-Commutes: Job-weighted median commute distance for all jobs located in the tract, or jobs under $40,000 in the tract
- Jobs-Housing Mismatch: The ratio of jobs under $40,000 a year and affordable rentals ($12k) within three miles of any block of the tract
Notes
*These maps only address one element of current zoning reform debates—opportunity and employment patterns. Understanding how zoning reform could affect communities vulnerable to displacement or effectively calibrate inclusionary housing components are also important considerations that should be informed by their own stakeholder engagement and research process.
**The “Transit Corridor” layer shows areas within ¼ mile of a high-frequency bus stop or ½ mile of a high-quality transit stop (approximate, may contain errors).
***Only tracts that meet a population density threshold of at least 250 people per square mile are included in this analysis. This does not mean that these larger, low-density tracts may not contain high-opportunity areas or be subject to housing policies that discourage production or limit inclusion. But the larger geographic scale of census tracts in these cases can make it difficult to target which areas within the tract might be suitable for zoning reform, particularly given environmental concerns about potentially increasing vehicle miles traveled in such areas. Moreover, sample size, data quality, and data availability diminish at units of geography smaller than the census tract, further complicating within-tract targeting in these areas.