Existing Conditions for Health in the Ravenswood Business District of East Palo Alto December 23 ...

205 Pages·2009·3.94 MB·English

by  Jen Lucky

Existing Conditions for Health in the Ravenswood Business
District of East Palo Alto

December 23, 2009

Prepared by Human Impact Partners for:
Youth United for Community Action & the RBD Coalition

For more information visit www.humanimpact.org or call 510-740-0143.
REPORT CONTRIBUTORS & REVIEWERS
Kim Gilhuly, MPH – Human Impact Partners
Jennifer Lucky, MPH – Human Impact Partners
Sarah Satinsky – masters candidate in the departments of City and Regional Planning
and Health Behavior and Health Education at The University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
ST Mayer, MPP – San Mateo County Health System
Cathleen Baker, MPP – San Mateo County Health System
Lily Lee – City of East Palo Alto
Youth United for Community Action
Carlos Romero – City of East Palo Alto

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank all of the residents and other local individuals who took the time
to participate in the EPA Community Survey, key informant interviews or provided
other sources of data for this report.

SUGGESTED CITATION
Human Impact Partners. Existing Conditions for Health in the Ravenswood Business
District of East Palo Alto. December 2010.
Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: Jobs & Livelihood
Chapter 2: Transportation
Chapter 3: Neighborhood Completeness
Chapter 4: Environmental Quality
Chapter 5: Housing
Chapter 6: Social Cohesion
Appendix A: East Palo Alto Community Survey
Appendix B: Key Informant Interview Guide
Appendix C: Fastest Growing Jobs; Industries with the Most Job Openings; and
Living Wage in San Mateo County
Summary of Conclusions & DRAFT Recommendations
Ravenswood Business District – Report of Existing Conditions for Health
December 2009

Introduction
This report presents the results of a study of existing conditions of health and quality of life
in East Palo Alto, as they relate to the proposed redevelopment of the Four Corners/
Ravenswood Industrial Area (RIA), or what is now proposed to become the Ravenswood
Business District (RBD). The City of East Palo Alto (EPA) is a 2.5 square mile city of nearly
33,000 residents situated 35 miles south of San Francisco, bounded by the City of Palo Alto
on the west and south, at the southern edge of San Mateo County - in the heart of
California’s Silicon Valley. EPA is a largely residential city with a low tax base that limits its
ability to provide essential services, public facilities, and infrastructure for its largely poor,
minority residents. These limitations are reflected in the city’s overall population health. A
2006 fitness assessment found that only 7% of seventh graders in EPA’s local public schools
met all fitness standards compared with 37% in the surrounding county. Similarly, the
prevalence of obesity is higher in EPA than in the rest of the county. In 1998-2000, EPA
had the highest asthma hospitalization rate in the county for children ages 0-14, and between
2002 and 2004, rates of asthma increased significantly among children ages 0 to 18.

East Palo Alto has been designated as a “Community of Concern” by the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission (MTC) since 30% or more of the households earn below 200%
of the poverty level, and 70% or more of the persons in the households are African
American, Asian American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native
Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or Multi-Racial.

The RBD is a 184-acre area in the Eastern Part of the City of East Palo Alto, comprised of a
Intro‐1
number of privately owned land parcels. Historically, the RBD has been the location of
much of San Mateo County’s industrial activity, particularly serving the needs of the growing
technology industries in the area. Recently, however, a number of industrial operations in
the RBD have ceased, offering opportunities for new development in the area. In addition to
remaining industrial operations, some public buildings, non-profit/community
organizations, open space and a limited amount of housing is currently located in the RBD,
however, the area is still zoned primarily for industrial/ light industrial uses.

The City of East Palo Alto is currently engaged in a process to develop a specific plan for
the redevelopment of the RBD. Planning for redevelopment in the RBD is complicated by a
number of factors, including: multiple land owners; regulation of the area by multiple
agencies; lack of existing development and/or restrictions based on zoning and previous
industrial uses in the area; the City of EPA’s need to establish a financing plan for
development of infrastructure in the RBD; and varying needs and interests of local
communities.

Considering the needs of the local community in East Palo Alto and the impact that land use
decisions can have on health behaviors and health outcomes, the RBD redevelopment
offers the opportunity to bring many health benefits to the local population and the
surrounding community.

Local community organizations in East Palo Alto, including Youth United for Community
Action (YUCA), the Community Development Institute (CDI) and Peninsula Interfaith
Action (PIA) have come together to form the RBD Coalition, to work to ensure that plans
for the RBD reflect community needs. In order to best understand the health needs of the
local population, YUCA engaged Human Impact Partners (HIP), a in a process to collect
and compile a report of existing conditions for health in EPA, and help make
recommendations about health-promoting measures that have the potential to optimize
Intro‐2
public health opportunities within the RBD redevelopment project.

The final report of existing health conditions around the RBD was authored by Human
Impact Partners in collaboration with the RBD Coalition, and with the support of the San
Mateo County Health System as well as other local agencies and organizations. Funding for
this report came from The California Endowment.

Human Impact Partners is a non-profit organization that specializes in Health Impact
Assessment (HIA). HIP believes that health should be considered in all decision making.
HIP raises awareness of and collaboratively use innovative data, processes and tools that
evaluate health impacts and inequities in order to transform the policies, institutions and
places people need to live healthy lives. Since the organization was established in 2006, HIP
has partnered with community organizations and other stakeholders across the nation to
conduct over 15 HIA’s, and continues to work as a leader in the field of Health Impact
Assessment.

Methodology
The summary that follows provides key activities and findings for each stage in the process
of developing this report of existing conditions for health in and around the RBD in East
Palo Alto. The process of developing this report mirrors the steps of Health Impact
Assessment.

Stage 1: Screening
HIP met together with YUCA staff and members as well as others in the RBD Coalition to
establishing the feasibility and value of compiling a report of existing conditions for health
for East Palo Alto – and particularly for the RBD area.

With a high percentage of low-income families with children, and having some of the
poorest health outcomes in San Mateo county, East Palo Alto is a vulnerable community.
The availability of jobs and housing, access to transportation and goods/services, as well as
neighborhood safety, social cohesion and exposure to environmental contamination are all
priority concerns for local residents in EPA. Given that the proposed RBD redevelopment
has the potential to affect conditions in all of these issue areas, understanding the existing
health conditions, and making recommendations to ensure that a health perspective is
considered as the RBD plans are developed was determined to be a high priority for YUCA
and members of the RBD Coalition. Additionally, the mayor of EPA has recently expressed
the City’s commitment to including health in their decision-making, regularly convening a
Health Roundtable and other health-related forums. Given these activities, the partners on
this project determined that it is likely that the information provided in the existing
conditions for health report could be used for and serve to influence RBD planning. Given
that resources were available and the timelines were also appropriate, stakeholders made the
decision to conduct research about existing conditions for health in and around the RBD in
EPA.

Stage 2: Scoping
After deciding to move forward with the project, the RBD Coalition worked with HIP to
create a work plan and timeline for conducting a HIA that included priority issues, research
questions and methods for gathering information, and definitions of participant roles.
Intro‐3
In order to understand some the health-related needs and concerns of EPA residents in
close proximity to the RBD redevelopment, health statistics, results of a survey of nearly 250
community residents, and reports about existing local and regional health conditions were
reviewed. From these, HIP and YUCA drafted sets of research questions in each of the five
following topic areas:
• Jobs/Livelihood
• Transportation and Pedestrian Quality
• Neighborhood Completeness
• Environmental Quality
• Housing
• Social Cohesion

Stage 3: Assessment
For this report, data regarding existing conditions for health within the determined project
scope was collected from a number of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, The San
Mateo County Health System, the East Palo Alto Redevelopment Agency, the Bay Area Air
Quality Management District, and reports from local and regional organizations.

In addition, primary data was collected from the following sources:

• EPA Community Survey
Together with YUCA, HIP designed a survey tool to assess health-related conditions of
residents living in East Palo Alto. The nearly 30-question survey touched upon a variety of
health topics, including jobs, access to goods and services, housing, transportation, and
social cohesion. In the Fall of 2009 YUCA staff administered these surveys to local
residents in and around EPA at different times on various days. YUCA and others from the
RBD Coalition also disseminated the survey via email. Results from a total of 248
completed community surveys were analyzed as part of this existing conditions report. The
survey results were analyzed by HIP, and are included throughout the various chapters of
this report alongside Census and other data sources to provide additional information about
existing health conditions in the local community1. A copy of this survey can be found in
Appendix A.

• PEQI
In July of 2009, HIP trained YUCA staff along with members of other local community
organizations and the San Mateo County Health System to use the Pedestrian
Environmental Quality Index (PEQI), an observational survey used to quantify the need for
pedestrian improvements, educate community members about environmental factors that
influence walking, and provide data to predict levels of physical activity - a key determinant
of health.
The group gathered data on approximately 16% of intersections and 18% of street segments
in East Palo Alto, focusing on locations adjacent to the RBD. Results of the PEQI included

1 Throughout the existing conditions for health report, this survey is referred to as the “EPA Community
Survey”.
Intro‐4
that 89.9% of intersections and 11.2% of street segment sides for which data was collected
had poor or low pedestrian condition environments.
As a result of collecting PEQI data, public health and community participants anecdotally
reported increased awareness of the impact of the built environment, saying that is was
“fun” and “eye-opening.” In addition to using the PEQI results to advocate for improved
conditions in current city planning processes, training participants expressed interest in using
the PEQI in their future work. Results of the PEQI are included in the Transportation
chapter.

• Key Informant Interviews
Ten “key informants” were identified by RBD Coalition members and through snowball
sampling. Key informants were interviewed primarily about public participation in land use
planning, social cohesion in EPA, and results of past development processes.

Stage 4: Communication of Findings
This existing conditions report provides citation of literature and data sources used,
documentation of data collection methodology, and recommendations. The RBD Coalition
will determine the methods of communicating the findings and recommendations in the
existing conditions report to decision-makers and stakeholders. This can be done through a
variety of mechanisms, including a full report, fact sheets, presentations, public testimony
and formal comment letters.

Community organizations that have worked with HIP on past projects have used
information about existing health conditions, as well as HIA findings and recommendations
in a number of ways, including:
 To demonstrate to city councils and boards of supervisors the impacts of local and
regional land use decisions on health issues including: air & water quality; access to
goods, services & transportation; and availability of jobs;
 To influence plans for an urban housing development, in order to ensure that units
will be available and affordable for local residents, and that the development helps
provide access to education, healthy retail and services, and transportation; and
 As a formal comment on Environmental Impact Assessments, particularly to ensure
that health is considered in transportation and land use decision-making.

Health Impact Assessment
Health Impact Assessment (HIA) describes a process to inform policy-makers about how
policies, plans, programs, or projects can affect the health of populations. HIA is
increasingly being used both nationally and internationally. By using diverse research
methods and tools, HIA considers environmental, social and economic determinants of
health. HIA also adds a focus on environmental justice implications and potentially
beneficial and/or negative effects of project and policy proposals. In order to help reduce
health disparities, HIA is used to constructively and proactively suggest mitigations for
unintended negative health effects of project, program or policy proposals being evaluated.

While this existing conditions report is not considered a formal Health Impact Assessment,
Intro‐5
the information included here can be used as a first step towards conducting an HIA if the
RBD Coalition and other local stakeholders decide that they would like to do so. Additional
next steps that could be taken to conduct an HIA in this case include:
 Identifying the details of the specific plan that is being proposed by the City of EPA
Redevelopment Agency for the RBD;
 Conducting an analysis of how the proposed RBD specific plan would impact the
existing conditions for health in and around the RBD;
 Making recommendations about how any negative health impacts can be avoided or
mitigated, and ways to maximize positive health benefits of the RBD plans;
 Monitoring how the information and recommendations from the HIA findings and
recommendations ultimately impact the decisions made about the RBD, and in the
longer term, how the RBD development impacts health determinants, and, if possible,
the health status of EPA residents; and
 Monitoring whether or not the project decision-makers institute the types of mitigations
and recommendations that were agreed to in the final RBD redevelopment plans.

Evaluation
Throughout the process of conducting the research for this report, HIP and the RBD
Coalition have continued to review the aims and objectives of for this report. HIP will also
conduct an internal evaluation of the process of developing this report.

Report Format
The chapters of this report include Jobs/Livelihood; Transportation/ Pedestrian Quality;
Neighborhood Completeness; Environmental Quality; Housing; and Social Cohesion. Each
chapter includes the connections between the topic and health; a summary of existing
conditions related to the chapter topic; community perspectives about the topic; and
conclusions about how the topic could impact health.
Limitations
The findings and recommendations in this HIA report are made based upon available data
and evidence, field observations, and our best professional judgment. It is possible that
unforeseen events could occur that may limit the accuracy of this assessment.

Intro‐6
East Palo Alto - Ravenswood Business District, Report of Existing Conditions for Health
Jobs and Livelihood
December 2009

I. Summary of Section Conclusions & Research Questions
Research Questions Conclusions

What are existing • There were 2,150 jobs in EPA in 2005, and 13,800 EPA residents in the
conditions around workforce in 2009.
Workforce and • There is only approximately 1 local job for every 3 EPA residents, and a
Employment ? number jobs in EPA are currently filled by non-residents.
• A large percentage of local residents (96% of workers) commute out of EPA
to work.
• In June 2009, there was a 21% unemployment rate in EPA. Unemployment in
EPA is substantially higher than in the rest of the county and also ranks highly
in the state.
• Between 2005 and 2030 he number of jobs in EPA is predicted to increase by
4.2% annually as compared to a 1.5% annual growth in San Mateo County.
With good planning, this could result in EPA residents gaining skills and jobs;
with poor planning it could result in more in-commuting by residents of other
cities.
• Many jobs (72%) that are expected to grow in the next 10 years require a
Bachelor’s Degree or higher, a level of education that a majority of EPA
residents do not have.
• Jobs predicted to have the most openings in the next 10 years that meet the level
of education and skill of most EPA residents are lower paying and less likely to
offer benefits. 68% of these jobs would require on the job training only.

What are existing • The average median income for a family in EPA is $49,267 compared to
conditions around $81,573 in San Mateo County.
Income and poverty? • 79% of households in EPA are very low income or low income (earn 50% or
less than the average income or 50% - 80% of the average), vs. 65% in San
Mateo County.
• In San Mateo County, a “living wage” to enable one adult and one child to
minimally cover food, child care, education, healthcare, housing,
transportation, other necessities and taxes is $23.68.
• 32% of the high growth jobs listed for San Mateo County do not provide a
living wage, and 58% of the high-growth jobs that only require on the job
training do not pay a living wage.
• Of the jobs with the most job openings between 2006 and 2016 in San Mateo
County, 59% do not pay a living wage.

What are existing • According to 2006 Census data, in the EPA adult population, 31% did not have
conditions around a high school diploma, 49% graduated from high school only or had some
Educational college education, and 16% had a bachelors degree or higher.
Attainment? • 66% of EPA residents have either not completed high school or have a high
school degree and no college training.
• Only one in ten of high school students in the EPA region are passing the