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Mapping Opportunity in California’s San Joaquin Valley

Mapping Opportunity in California’s San Joaquin Valley 

Authors: Jonathan K. London and Sara Watterson 

To identify the places and populations in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) that exhibit the highest need for investment and support, Sierra Health Foundation commissioned a study from the UC Davis Center for Regional Change (CRC). The CRC and affiliated faculty used the Regional Opportunity Index (ROI) to develop an overview of social, economic, political and other disparities across the SJV. The ROI consists of two dimensions. The first, referred to as People Opportunity, combines data about the relative level of resources possessed by individuals in the region. These include people’s educational levels, employment status, income, housing, health, and social and political engagement. The second dimension is called Place Opportunity. It describes the relative level of institutional and physical resources available. These include the quality of local schools, the state of the local economy, housing stock, the transportation and mobility infrastructure, environmental quality, the availability of health care facilities and local social and political capacities.

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