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Neighborhood Amenities in District of Columbia
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District of Columbia Value:

67.0%

Percentage of children ages 0-17 with access to all of the following: a park or playground; a recreation center, community center or boys' and girls' club; a library or bookmobile; and sidewalks or walking paths (2-year estimate)

Neighborhood Amenities in depth:

Neighborhood Amenities by State

Percentage of children ages 0-17 with access to all of the following: a park or playground; a recreation center, community center or boys' and girls' club; a library or bookmobile; and sidewalks or walking paths (2-year estimate)

Top StatesRankValue
Bottom StatesRankValue

Neighborhood Amenities

153.4%
153.4%
351.2%
745.8%
844.7%
1043.0%
1141.9%
1338.0%
1437.2%
1537.0%
1537.0%
1835.6%
1935.5%
2035.4%
2135.2%
2334.1%
2433.9%
2433.9%
2633.8%
2932.6%
3032.0%
3131.9%
3131.9%
3331.3%
3429.8%
3529.5%
3628.2%
3727.4%
3826.3%
3925.7%
4025.1%
4122.6%
4221.3%
4419.8%
4618.6%
4717.6%
4816.5%
Data Unavailable
Source:
  • National Survey of Children's Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), 2020-2021

Neighborhood Amenities Trends

Percentage of children ages 0-17 with access to all of the following: a park or playground; a recreation center, community center or boys' and girls' club; a library or bookmobile; and sidewalks or walking paths (2-year estimate)

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About Neighborhood Amenities

US Value: 35.5%

Top State(s): Colorado, Illinois: 53.4%

Bottom State(s): Mississippi: 12.9%

Definition: Percentage of children ages 0-17 with access to all of the following: a park or playground; a recreation center, community center or boys' and girls' club; a library or bookmobile; and sidewalks or walking paths (2-year estimate)

Data Source and Years(s): National Survey of Children's Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), 2020-2021

Suggested Citation: America's Health Rankings analysis of National Survey of Children's Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), United Health Foundation, AmericasHealthRankings.org, accessed 2024.

The health of individuals and communities is closely tied to the environment around them. Neighborhood amenities such as recreational facilities, libraries, playgrounds and sidewalks offer individuals opportunities to socialize, play, exercise and enjoy the neighborhood in which they live. There is evidence that safe neighborhoods with opportunities for and access to community engagement and healthy lifestyle habits contribute positively to physical health and mental health. For example, people who live in safe and beautiful communities close to parks or beaches spend more time walking outside on average. Access to green spaces has been shown to improve memory, stress and cognitive development in children as well. The evidence indicates that improving multiple aspects of neighborhood roads and walkways for pedestrians and cyclists and installing play equipment in parks may increase physical activity levels in adults and children.

Access to neighborhood amenities is more common among: 

Efforts to improve public spaces in low-resource neighborhoods are most successful when community-driven. Community planners along with community members, transportation, public health and other governmental agencies can work together to design safer, more walkable neighborhoods through community planning and zoning, and by locating schools, parks, recreational centers and other amenities within walkable distances from each other. Any project that adds features to a neighborhood will increase the proportion of children that have neighborhood amenities; however, some projects are more successful at improving health than others. Adding green features like plants and trees, more open and walkable spaces and other features that improve safety or recreation can have physical and mental health benefits for residents. It is important to be mindful, however, that neighborhood improvement projects can run the risk of displacing the residents the improvements were meant to help. 

One goal in the Surgeon General’s 2015 report on promoting walking and walkable communities is to design communities that support safe and easy places for people to walk.

Barreto, Matt, Sonja Diaz, and Tyler Reny. 2018. “Should I Stay or Should I Go?: How Effective Transit-Oriented Development Can Lead to Positive Economic Growth Without Displacing Latinos.” Policy Brief No. 1. UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative (LPPI). https://ucla.app.box.com/s/0ytk7qpg7fjloc0gglwb8iuuxt94uk12.

Christian, Hayley, Matthew Knuiman, Mark Divitini, Sarah Foster, Paula Hooper, Bryan Boruff, Fiona Bull, and Billie Giles-Corti. 2017. “A Longitudinal Analysis of the Influence of the Neighborhood Environment on Recreational Walking within the Neighborhood: Results from RESIDE.” Environmental Health Perspectives 125 (7): 077009. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP823.

Cox, Daniel A., and Ryan Streeter. 2019. “The Importance of Place: Neighborhood Amenities as a Source of Social Connection and Trust.” American Enterprise Institute. https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/The-Importance-of-Place.pdf.

Gelormino, Elena, Giulia Melis, Cristina Marietta, and Giuseppe Costa. 2015. “From Built Environment to Health Inequalities: An Explanatory Framework Based on Evidence.” Preventive Medicine Reports 2: 737–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2015.08.019.

Heroux, Janet, Tyler Norris, Kate Rube, and Virginie Nadimi. 2016. “The Case for Healthy Places: Improving Outcomes through Placemaking.” Project for Public Spaces, Inc. https://www.pps.org/product/the-case-for-healthy-places.

Koehler, Kirsten, Megan Latshaw, Thomas Matte, Daniel Kass, Howard Frumkin, Mary Fox, Benjamin F. Hobbs, Marsha Wills-Karp, and Thomas A. Burke. 2018. “Building Healthy Community Environments: A Public Health Approach.” Public Health Reports, November. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033354918798809.

McCormick, Rachel. 2017. “Does Access to Green Space Impact the Mental Well-Being of Children: A Systematic Review.” Journal of Pediatric Nursing 37 (November): 3–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2017.08.027.

Smith, Melody, Jamie Hosking, Alistair Woodward, Karen Witten, Alexandra MacMillan, Adrian Field, Peter Baas, and Hamish Mackie. 2017. “Systematic Literature Review of Built Environment Effects on Physical Activity and Active Transport – an Update and New Findings on Health Equity.” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 14 (1): 158. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0613-9.

Zuniga-Teran, Adriana A., Barron J. Orr, Randy H. Gimblett, Nader V. Chalfoun, David P. Guertin, and Stuart E. Marsh. 2017. “Neighborhood Design, Physical Activity, and Wellbeing: Applying the Walkability Model.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14 (1): 76. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14010076.

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