The opening of a new trauma center at the University of Chicago Hospital means many South Siders are closer to care, but there’s still a wide disparity between the distance white and black Chicagoans must travel for emergency care.
Less than a year ago, Chicago opened its South Side Level 1 trauma center at the University of Chicago. "Before the trauma center opened — after years of campaigning by activists — Chicagoans in mostly black neighborhoods were 8.5 times more likely than people in mostly white neighborhoods to live in “trauma deserts,” according to the study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open on Friday," Lisa Schencker writes for the Chicago Tribune. Still, the addition hasn’t solved the inequities in trauma care. Today black Chicagoans are 1.6 times more likely than white Chicagoans to live in "trauma deserts."
"Until the new center opened, the South Side hadn’t had a Level I adult trauma center since Michael Reese Hospital in Bronzeville closed its center in the early 1990s," Schencker reports. This long-enduring issue is not unique to Chicago, in Los Angeles, for example, black residents are five times more likely than white residents to live in trauma deserts. Some claim this problem is a structural one that is bound up with the way health care is funded, a structure that leaves poor and often black residents at a disadvantage.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
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Chicago Trains Make More Room for Bikes
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Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
Fair Housing Cannot Take a Back Seat to ‘Build, Baby, Build’
If we overlook fair housing principles in the plan to build US housing back better, we risk ending up right back where we started.
LA Metro Board Approves New 710 Freeway Plan
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Austin’s Proposed EV Charging Rules Regulate Station Locations, Size
City planners say the new rules would ensure an efficient distribution of charging infrastructure across the city and prevent an overconcentration in residential areas.
Making California State Parks More Climate-Resilient
A recently released report offers recommendations for keeping state parks healthy and robust, including acquiring additional land for conservation and recreation.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
