2012 Community Needs Assessment
of this scorecard, high mortality rates due to accidents are represented by low grades, and viceversa for low rates of mortality due to accidents. Hence, Ward 5 earns the lowest grade of Crepresenting the highest percentage of mortality due to accidents with 17.5 percent. Contrastingly, Ward 3 is the safest ward in the city as far as accidents are concerned, with an accident mortality rate of 7.1 percent. Violent and Property Crime: Crime levels, particularly for violent and property crimes, are also
factors used to determine safety grades as these can have a major impact on the level of safety felt by residents. In this category, we base grades on the number of combined violent and property crimes reported during 2012 by the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department.174 Residents in Wards 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 have experienced decreasing property and violent crimes, with Ward 3 reporting 1,780 violent and property crimes, earning a grade of A. Wards 1, 2, and 6, however, have experienced an uptick of these types of crimes, especially in Ward 2 with 6,517 violent and property crimes reported, earning a grade of C-, representing the ward with the highest rate of violent and property crimes. Environment Vacant Housing Units: Vacant housing includes houses that are considered to be described as
“abandoned” which may cause environmental issues such as rodent infestation, fire hazards, squatters, and vagrancy, among others. In this report, we determine vacant housing ratios from the number of vacant houses in each ward against the total housing stock in each ward. 175 Ward 3 has the fewest vacant houses per 1,000 houses in that ward, earning a grade of A, and Wards 6, 7, and 8 have above-average numbers of vacant houses. Vehicle registrations: This measure indicates the population rate of residents who are age of
18-years-old or older and who have registered vehicles in the District. Fewer cars could lessen the carbon footprint in the District and could also alleviate parking issues and traffic congestion. Ward 3 has the greatest number of registered vehicles in the District, 60 percent, earning a grade of F, while Ward 2 has fewer residents age 18 or older who own registered vehicles, 30%, earning a grade of A-.176 Condition of Trees: The number of trees in good or excellent condition could be an indication
of improved air quality in the District and may indicate greater green space. In this category, we rely on data from the Urban Institutes, “State of Washington, DC’s Neighborhoods” report. Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 have an above-average green canopy with Ward 1 having the largest percentage of trees in good or excellent condition (83.5 percent), earning a grade of A. Ward 8 has the lowest percentage of trees in good or excellent (66 percent), earning a grade of C-. 177 174
District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department. Number of Crimes that Occurred Between 01/01/2012 and 12/30/2012. Retrieved September 6, 2013 http://crimemap.dc.gov/Report.aspxfrom 175 U.S. Census Bureau. (2010), Summary File 1 176 Comey, J. Narducci, C. & Tatian, P. A. (2010). State of Washington, DC's neighborhoods, 2010. Urban Institute. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/publications/412333.html 177 ibid
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