By: Osvaldo Arambulo
Life Course Scholar
This week on Wednesday, March 1st, my group and I went out to visit the Encanto neighborhood for our first neighborhood assessment project. Using the World Health Organization guidelines for determining the age friendliness of the community, we explored the area and documented relevant information. We walked around, took pictures, and observed the locals.
Life Course Scholar
This week on Wednesday, March 1st, my group and I went out to visit the Encanto neighborhood for our first neighborhood assessment project. Using the World Health Organization guidelines for determining the age friendliness of the community, we explored the area and documented relevant information. We walked around, took pictures, and observed the locals.
Reyna, Muna, and I were determined to learn as much as we could from our expedition; what we found was remarkably surprising. Most of the residencies were single or multi-family occupancies that had been around for a couple years. Most of the homes in the south region were in blighted areas, some foreclosed and many with deteriorating an unmaintained properties.
Encanto appeared to be a predominantly minority suburban community comprised of mostly Blacks and some Hispanics. Infrastructure neglect was very prevalent, specifically with street maintenance, graffiti, and overgrown weeds. There were an excessive amount of potholes and just about every road and sidewalk were extremely inaccessible, inadequate, or just non-existent for pedestrian use.
There was however a stark contrast between brand new neighborhoods and the older ones. All of the older neighborhoods lacked sidewalks, safe roads, safe public space, and wheelchair accessibility. The newer residential area, on the other hand, was well equipped with paved roads, accessible pedestrian walkways, and even included a mini dog park. Meanwhile one street down, a single woman had to walk briskly to her destination as she shared the road with cars.
Despite its setbacks, Encanto is not entirely a bad place for aging in place. Public transportation is fairly accessible and along the main street and residents may benefit from the proximity of a trolley station right in the heart of Encanto. Roads are just wide enough for two cars and do a good job of slowing down traffic. The region is not very traffic prone and lies in between two major highway corridors which means commuters have relatively good access to car transportation as well.
We hope to go back soon so that we can make a more thorough and holistic evaluation of the community.