The quality of life in neighborhoods sets the context for everything that happens in the places we live, work, play, learn, and grow. For more than a decade, the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance – Jacob France Institute has been committed to promoting, supporting, and helping people make better decisions using accurate, reliable, and accessible data and indicators to improve the quality of life in Baltimore City neighborhoods. The annual release of the Vital Signs report “takes the pulse” of Baltimore neighborhoods and the indicators serve as a common or shared measurement system for neighborhoods to understand where they stand relative to city benchmarks. This allows communities to track the impact of mutually-reinforcing activities towards the common goal of a better quality of life in every neighborhood.
The indicators and data used in Vital Signs are organized into eight sections, each of which describes an issue or area that is central to the quality of life in Baltimore City. The data within each of the sections provide a picture of the conditions within Baltimore City’s neighborhoods and their progress over time.
Vital Signs is a compilation of lots of data. There are over 150 indicators for each of Baltimore City’s 55 Community Statistical Areas (CSAs), which means that there are more than 8,000 data points are in Vital Signs 17. Interesting facts and trends, graphics and community rankings are all included in the sections. Positive or not positive changes over time are highlighted throughout the report for easy interpretation of the data. With so much information in this report, it has been produced in a way that should serve as a reference guide to communities throughout the year.
Introduction
Census Demographics
Housing and Community Development
Children and Family Health
Crime and Safety
Workforce and Economic Development
Arts & Culture
Education and Youth
Sustainability
Vital Signs is made possible by the generous support of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, PNC Bank, and T. Row Price Foundation.