Children's Environmental Index ranks best and worst U.S. cities
San Diego receives poor scores in nationwide study of environmental
quality for children
provided by Zero Population Growth
new report released by Zero Population Growth puts San
Diego in the bottom third of the nation's cities in terms of environmental
quality for children. The Children's Environmental Index rates 207 U.S.
cities on a broad range of factors that influence the well-being of children.
With poor scores in air quality and education, San Diego has a final rank
of 154th in national comparisons and ranks 20th among the 44 California
cities that the study examined. Twelve of the bottom 20 cities were in California.
Each city was scored on 14 indicators and then ranked
in relation to all other cities. ZPG researchers gathered data on education,
crime, pollution, percent of children living in poverty, and other environmental
indicators. "Environment" is used in its broadest sense to include
both the social and physical conditions that influence a child's development.
Bigger is not better
The Index findings show that, in general, our nation's largest cities provide
the poorest environment for children. The average population of the 20 lowest
scoring cities was 438,000 people while the 20 highest scoring cities had
average populations of only 146,000. Lower scores in larger cities generally
reflect higher rates of poverty, unemployment, crime, teen pregnancy, school
drop-outs, and pollution - conditions that obviously create a poor environment
for children.
"But simply reducing the population of our cities
is not the answer," says ZPG Board President Dianne Dillon-Ridgley.
"Moving people into the suburbs and putting more commuters on the highways
will only make environmental problems worse. We need to find comprehensive,
long-term solutions to slow population growth while working to address problems
that face people today."
Index data reveals the interrelated nature of many urban
problems. For example, the ZPG study revealed a strong correlation between
poverty and other social problems. Cities with a high percentage of children
living in poverty were much more likely to have high unemployment rates,
crime rates, and drop-out rates. An extremely high correlation was found
between child poverty and births to teens.
On average, 22 percent of children in the cities ZPG
studied currently live below the poverty line. The Index found that 33 cities
have more than one-third of their children living in poverty and 10 cities
have more than 40 percent. Eight of the 10 cities with more than 40 percent
of children in poverty also have more than 20 percent of all births born
to teenage girls.
"High teen pregnancy rates are related to lack
of educational attainment and opportunities," says Dillon-Ridgley.
"This, in turn, leads to poor job skills and unemployment and more
child poverty. The Index challenges citizens to examine factors that affect
this vicious cycle of poverty and population growth and reevaluate community
priorities. In the long run, communities that can stabilize population and
ensure sustainable development will enjoy a higher quality of life than
communities that do not."
The U.S. population is currently about 260 million and
growing by more than 3 million people a year, a rate faster than any other
industrialized nation. The United States is the third most populated nation
in the world, after China and India, and set to double to 500 million by
2050. This exploding population exacerbates many of the problems that already
plague our cities and is intensified by the fact that Americans produce
more waste and consume more natural resources than any other nation.
Toughest on children
While population pressures affect everyone, they take their greatest toll
on children. Children are more susceptible to pollution because they spend
more time outdoors, breathe more air per pound of body weight, and have
fewer detoxifying enzymes than adults. They are more vulnerable to malnutrition
and disease and less able to defend themselves against violence and neglect.
The Children's Environmental index pinpoints areas of
failure and success and gives people solid data they can use to facilitate
changes in their cities. The Index is not intended to suggest that people
should relocate from one city to another. Rather, the Index should be viewed
as a vehicle to examine current conditions and plan improvements accordingly.
The Children's Environmental Index was produced by Zero
Population Growth, the nation's largest grassroots organization concerned
with the impacts of population growth. ZPG supports a comprehensive approach
to reducing population pressures, including access to safe and affordable
contraceptives, reproductive choice, school-based sexuality education and
health services, international support for basic education and voluntary
family planning programs, adoption of green technologies and recycling programs,
and adoption of a national population policy. In combination with environmentally
responsible personal choices such as reducing consumption and having smaller
families, these actions can help to ensure a quality environment for present
and future generations.
Copies of the Children's Environmental Index are $7.50
each plus $1.50 postage and handling ($9.00 total). Checks should be made
payable to ZPG and sent to: ZPG Publications, 1400 16th Street NW, Washington,
DC 20036 or VISA/Mastercard orders can be placed by calling 202-332-2200.
ZPG speakers are available upon request to discuss the Index and population
issues.
Factors used in ranking the cities
High/Low Average San Diego
Factor Score Score Score
Social/Economic Factors 9.8/0.7 4.5 6.0
Percentage of Children in Poverty
Unemployment Rate
Percentage of Births to Teens
Crime 9.9/0.2 7.1 7.3
Property Crime Rate
Violent Crime Rate
Education 9.2/1.2 5.5 4.9
Student-Teacher Ratio
Per Pupil Expenditures on Education
High School Drop-Out Rate
Toxics 100/2.8 8.8 9.3
Toxic Releases
Number of Superfund Sites
Air 9.8/0.0 6.3 4.2
Number of Days with Unhealthy Air
Average Pollution Standard Index
Water 10.0/3.4 8.0 7.5
# of Safe Drinking Water Violations
Per Capita Water Use
The Index winners ... and losers
Winners
Final
City Score Rank
Madison, WI 8.9 1
Burlington, VT 8.8 2
Stamford, CT 8.7 3
Fargo, ND 8.7 4
Lincoln, NE 8.6 5
Overland Park, KS 8.6 6
Sioux Falls, SD 8.5 7
Livonia, MI 8.5 8
Green Bay, WI 8.5 9
Virginia Beach, VA 8.4 10
Cedar Rapids, IA 8.2 11
Sterling Heights, MI 8.1 12
Billings, MT 8.1 13
Lubbock, TX 8.1 14
Sunnyvale, CA 8.1 15
Des Moines, IA 8.1 16
Raleigh, NC 8.0 17
Hampton, VA 8.0 18
Boise City, ID 8.0 19
Plano, TX 8.0 20
Losers
Final
City Score Rank
Baton Rouge, LA 5.7 188
Tampa, FL 5.7 189
Gary, IN 5.7 190
Oxnard, CA 5.6 191
Miami, FL 5.6 192
Stockton, CA 5.6 193
Moreno Valley, CA 5.6 194
Fresno, CA 5.5 195
Ontario, CA 5.4 196
Detroit, MI 5.4 197
St. Louis, MI 5.3 198
Riverside, CA 5.3 199
Atlanta, GA 5.3 200
Pomona, CA 5.2 201
Los Angeles, CA 5.2 202
Inglewood, CA 5.1 203
El Monte, CA 5.1 204
Long Beach, CA 5.1 205
Newark, NJ 5.0 206
San Bernardino, CA 4.1 207
