A non-profit organization last week released new data scoring 150,000 U.S. neighborhoods on their Tree Equity — a rating combining multiple federal datasets to ID neighborhoods that need more trees.
The ratings, from American Forests, can be seen here.
US News describes the rating:
Each score is based on how much tree canopy and surface temperatures align with the number of people living in a given area or neighborhood, income, employment, race, age and health factors. The scores indicate whether there are enough trees for everyone living in those areas to experience the health, economic and climate benefits that trees provide.
Low-income, predominantly minority neighborhoods have fewer trees than wealthier, mostly white areas, according to Chris David, American Forests geographic information system and data science vice president.
The premise of tree equity “helps cities identify where to target places that have been historically ignored,” David said. “Where the places are that lack trees historically have underserved people in poverty, people of color.”
