Yakima Equity Study Analysis

Yakima City Council members requested that the Metro Center assess and analyze specific Equity Study data sets including: city-funded parks; public safety calls for service; streetlights; code compliance requests and transit ridership, shelters and benches; across demographic variables (including income, race, and education level) and a geographical dividing line.

Of the data sets assessed, we concluded they were developed using best practices to support the operations of their respective city departments;  however, the majority of the data did not include date attributes. This limited her Metro Center’s ability to assess the city’s decisions of resource allocation over time, but did provide the city with a valuable baseline, illustrated by over 200 scatter plots, many of which can be found in the project’s final report.

The Metro Center’s analysis, helped the city understand their data and its utility in decision making. Our report included specific recommendations for improving data collection to better assess equity, and suggested implementing decision making criteria for future resource allocation.

This analysis of the City of Yakima’s Equity Study was conducted, data compiled, and this report written by the following team assembled because of their expertise in urban planning and geospatial analysis. In particular we wish to acknowledge the work of Dr. Branden Born, with whom we have often worked on community based projects, and Dr. Philip Hurvitz, who led the data analysis.

WSU Metropolitan Center for Applied Research and Extension

• Martha Aitken, Senior Associate and Project Manager aitkenm@wsu.edu
• Brad Gaolach Ph. D., Metro Center Director, gaolach@wsu.edu

University of Washington, Department of Urban Design and Planning

• Branden Born Ph.D., Associate Professor bborn@uw.edu
• Philip M. Hurvitz Ph. D., Research Assistant Professor phurvitz@uw.edu
• Connie Combs MUP
• Kizz Prussia, MUP candidate (as of 12/2017)