Abstract
This article sets forth and illustrates a method to separate temporal changes in environmental and social justice indicators in local areas from influences at larger scales. It identifies differences that are not obvious without apportioning the results by layers. Rural Allendale County, South Carolina and the densely populated Bronx, New York are used as illustrations of temporal changes in five metrics: high school graduation rates, childhood poverty, 2.5 ppm air quality, age-adjusted premature mortality rates, and proportion of people of color. The two counties selected as illustrations are the poorest in their respective states and have been designated “persistent poverty” counties by the U.S. Census Bureau. Their populations are about three-fourths people of color and they demonstrate the worst health outcomes in their states. Although there are limitations in the availability of comparable time series data, especially for environmental indicators in local areas, we suggest a path forward to test this method with full datasets.
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