Best and worst neighborhoods for Bexar County kids
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A new analysis of quality-of-life data across the country reinforces what many already knew: Kids in Bexar County's poorest neighborhoods face daunting odds on multiple levels compared with their counterparts in affluent areas.
Why it matters: Where children grow up shapes their health, education and future.
The big picture: The analysis comes from the latest report of the Child Opportunity Index (COI), which rates communities on 44 factors that help determine a child's success, and awards scores from 1 to 100. The above map delineates census tracts, but we analyzed ZIP codes.
- Many of the lowest-scoring tracts — rating a 1 — cluster in the 78207 ZIP code, a historically Latino West Side neighborhood.
- By contrast, the 78015 area, which encompasses Fair Oaks Ranch, an affluent Hill Country community, scored a 93. Nearby 78260, which also covers Fair Oaks Ranch as well as Timberwood Park, scored a 92.
What they're saying: "Neighborhoods are important for families and children, shaping the economic, social and environmental contexts of their everyday lives and influencing their childhood and long-term health, education and socioeconomic outcomes," the authors write in the latest report.
Context: The COI was created in 2014 by Boston University researchers to gather rigorous data "to improve child wellbeing and increase racial and ethnic equity in opportunities for children."
- Researchers originally calculated scores on 19 metrics, but in this latest report, based on 2023 data, the metrics have more than doubled to now cover areas of school quality, safe housing, access to healthy food, parks, clean air and economic opportunities.
The intrigue: Southtown received a Child Opportunity Score of 79, which is significantly higher than areas in the inner West Side, just on the other side of Interstate 35, which had scores ranging from 1 to 3.
- This specific swath of the West Side, encompassing Guadalupe, South Laredo and South Brazos streets, is a historically redlined community.
The bottom line: Bexar County's racial opportunity gap correlates with national trends. "Hispanic and Black children are more likely to have lower opportunities for healthy development," the report notes.
- "They live in families and neighborhoods with much higher poverty rates and attend schools with more limited resources than white children. This inequity affects not only children but all of us."