Cranston+Community+Report

= = =//Community Description of Cranston, RI //= //** By:** Jaime Botelho, Sasha Gold, Emma Kilbane, Makayla Proffit, Iain McCoy, Allie Loiselle, Lauren Turgeon, Kristin Orabone//

**Introduction**

The purpose of this report is to give an overview of the community of Cranston, Rhode Island. Along with the community's geographical location and topography, a thorough examination of the community's income poverty data, census based indicators, education of the inhabitants, economic well-being, health indicators, race, ethnicity, family, and safety indicators will be included. This report paints an accurate picture of the community of Cranston by portraying both the positive and negative aspects of the area.


 * Geography**

Cranston, RI is a very heavily populated residential area of RI, which makes sense as it is the center of population, the geographic area nearest all of the inhabitants of the region, of Rhode Island. Based on the 2000 census, there are approximately 79,269 people in 30,954 households and about 20, 243 families in the city. The population density of Cranston is 2,774.6 people per square mile. The topography of the lands also seems relatively flat. Furthermore, Cranston is located at °46′24″N 71°27′12″W and the city has a total area of 29.9 square miles; 28.6 square miles of it is land while 1.4 square miles of the region is embodied water. There is also a convenient entrance to route95 in Cranston which allows access to easy highway access. Urban versus rural is virtually split down the middle. In the west is the more rural, wealthy part, while the east is the urban, less wealthy section of Cranston.
 * Income Poverty Data**

Cranston is a well developed city that has two separate sections, making up five different zip codes. One part of Cranston is urban, a primarily downtown area and the other part is either suburban or rural with a lot of land space. The urban area consists of three different zip codes, which includes 02910, 02905, and 02907. The rural or suburban area consists of only two zip codes which include both 02921 and 02920. The urban area makes up the majority of Cranston as a whole. The urban area has a higher population than the rural or suburban area and this is due to the fact that most of the families living in the rural area are predominately wealthy. There is a direct correlation between the location of the zip code and the income and poverty level of that zip code.

The rural families have the higher incomes while the urban families have the lower incomes. The wealthiest zip code in Cranston is 02921 with a median household income of $70,717; when this is compared to the state average of $42,090 it is apparent just how wealthy this community is. The zip code with the lowest median income is located in the urban are of Cranston. The 02907 zip code has a median household income of $23,225 which is almost half of the state's average income. The second highest median household income is located in the second zip code of the urban area, 02920. Their median household income is about $39,485, which is below the state's average. This could be due to the fact that 02920 is more suburban as opposed to rural. There is a portion of this zip code that is located in the rural section and part of it is located in the urban section (refer to map above). The last two zip codes are also fairly below the state average median household income and these zip codes are located in the urban area.

The urban area, as opposed to the rural or suburban area, has a lot more families and individuals living below poverty level. This is due to the fact that the majority of the wealthy population in Cranston live in the rural areas rather than the urban areas. The zip code with the highest percentage of families and individuals below poverty level is 02907; there are 30.7% of families living below poverty level and 32.6% of the individuals are living below poverty level. The lowest percentage of families and individuals living below poverty level is located in the wealthiest zip code, 02921. The percentage of families living below poverty level in 02921 is 1.7% and the percentage of individuals living below poverty level in 3.0%. The state's percentage of families living below poverty level is 8.3% and the percentage of individuals living below poverty level is 11.7%. The wealthiest zip codes or rural zip codes are well below the states percentages while the poorer zip codes or urban zip codes are a lot higher than the state's percentages for poverty level.

Overall, Cranston falls slightly below the state's median household income, median family income and per capita income. Cranston's average percentages for families below poverty level and individuals below poverty level is slightly higher than R.I. averages. The average median household income for all five zip codes is $41,524, while R.I's median household income is $42,090; Cranston's median household income is almost about average for the state of R.I. The average median family income for all five zip codes in Cranston is $46,465, while R.I.'s median household income is $52,781 ; Cranston's median family income is relatively lower than the state's median family income. The average per capita income for all five zip codes in Cranston is $19,072, while R.I's per capita income is $21,688 ; once again the average per capita income for Cranston falls below the per capita for R.I. Approximately 12.5% of families in Cranston live below poverty level and about 15.6% of individuals live below poverty level. About 8.9% of families in Rhode Island live below poverty level and about 11.9% of individuals in R.I. live below poverty level. Cranston's percentages are a lot higher than the state of Rhode Island. Lastly, Cranston's income data is slightly below the state of R.I.'s and the poverty data percentages are higher than the state of R.I.'s.

 **Census Based Indicators**

The Census-Based Indicators allow us to infer what the family situation may be like for the majority of Cranston students. Cranston’s total child population, 17,098, accounts for 15% of Rhode Island’s total child population, which is 247,822. From 1990 to 2000, the percentage of children living in single-parent families in both Cranston and Rhode Island has increased; Rhode Island ranges from 22-30% while Cranston is between 19-24%. This means that approximately one quarter of students live in single-parent households, while the majority of students are more likely to live with two parents. Interestingly, Cranston has approximately half as many children living in families below the federal poverty threshold than Rhode Island; 9.1% in Cranston compared to 16.9% in Rhode Island. This highlights the fact that the vast majority, approximately 90% of families, are living above the poverty level. Although these numbers were not broken down by zip codes, based on previous data and knowledge it may be safe to assume that the majority of the families living below the poverty level are from the east side of Cranston, which is far more urbanized than the West. Both Cranston and Rhode Island average a total of 4% of households where grandparents are financially responsible for grandchildren. Unfortunately, from 1990 to 2000 there has been an increase, from 12.1% in 1990 to 15% in 2000, in the amount of teens who are not working or attending school. This is significantly higher than Rhode Island’s average of 7.3%. Although the percentages of single-parent families and families living below the poverty threshold are lower than that of Rhode Island’s, this doesn’t seem to correlate with the percentage of Cranston teenagers who do not attend school or work, which is clearly much higher than Rhode Island’s average percentage. Although this is definitely a negative aspect of the Cranston community, there are many more positives, such as the low percentage of families living in the poverty threshold, to outweigh this negative.

** Education Indicator

** Based on the education indicator data collected of Cranston, the city appears to be providing a good and efficient education to its students. In the city of Cranston, the high school graduation rate is 82% which is higher than the 74% graduation rate for Rhode Island as a whole. Furthermore, only 5% of students are classified as English language learners in both Cranston and Rhode Island. Additionally, only 18% of children are enrolled in a special education program also both in Cranston and the state of Rhode Island. Moreover, the proficiency level in Cranston is typically higher than those in Rhode Island (80% of 4th graders at or above the reading proficiency level compared to 67% in Rhode Island). Finally, 10% of people in Cranston and Rhode Island participate in the Early Intervention Program. The Early Intervention program provides appropriate early intervention services to children under age three who are developmentally delayed or have a diagnosed physical condition that is associated with a developmental delay. The highest percentage of Early Intervention participants is 13% in some of the cities in Rhode Island; this shows Cranston as having a high rate of participants. All of this data concludes that Cranston is above average in both proficiency levels and the graduation rate compared to the state of Rhode Island. Overall, the data shows that Cranston is providing a good education to its students and trying to cater to the students’ needs. This is especially demonstrated in the 10% participation rate in the Early Intervention program. The data collected alludes to the fact that Cranston's economic well-being is subpar. 15% participate in the School Breakfast Program. In RI as a whole, 77% are in the Food Stamp Program, and 29% participate in School Breakfast Program. There doesn't seem to be a large majority of families that are receiving cash assistance as only 4% are in Cranston and only 6% in RI. The cost of rent in Cranston is also very similar as it only differs by about $110 ($1,122 in Cranston and $1,232 in RI).
 * Economic Well-Being Indicators **

 ** Based on the data, it seems that people of Cranston, Rhode Island are relatively healthy. All of the statistics were equivalent in each zip code of Cranston; children with elevated blood lead level, infant mortality rate, and teen birth rate is all very similar to the RI amount. There doesn't seem to be many children with elevated blood lead levels as there are only about 3.3% in Cranston and 4.5% in RI. Throughout all the zip codes of Cranston the number of children under 19 receiving medical assistance is 5,250. Plus, there are a lot less children under 19 receiving medical assistance in Cranston as compared to RI. Infant mortality is 5.4 per 1,000 births and the teen birth rate is 14.4 per 1000 teens ages 15 - 17. Both these stats are down from the Rhode Island stats (6.3% and 19.1% respectively). There is about 5% less teen birth rate in Cranston as opposed to in RI (19.1%). Also, only 7.9% of babies are born prematurely and there are about 80,000 less (5,250) children under 19 receiving medical assistance as opposed to in RI (84, 717). Moreover, there are slightly less women with delayed prenatal care and slightly less infants born below birth weight than in RI as a whole. Approximately 5,250 children in Cranston receive medical assistance, and in RI there are 84, 717. Overall, the community of Cranston receives good health care as the rates of infant mortality and elevated blood lead levels are very low, as two specific examples. Although the teen birth rate (14.4%) is a bit higher than infants born with low birthweight (7.9%) for example, the teen birth rate is lower in Cranston than in RI as a whole (19.1%). Lastly, the statistics remained the same in both rural and urban areas of Cranston for all aspects of health indicators.
 * Health Indicators




 * Race & Ethnicity**

Cranston, as a whole is a fairly racially diverse community. As it was previously stated, Cranston is split into the Eastern urban area (zip codes: 02910, 02905, and 02907) and the Western, rural area (zip codes: 02920 and 02921). The Eastern part of the city is predominately Hispanic (51.3%), while in the Western side of Cranston (which is significantly wealthier) is a predominantly white community, with approximately 90-96.6% of the population being white. Looking at the city as a whole, its racial diversity is similar to that of the state of Rhode Island's, where 82.8% of inhabitants of Rhode Island are white, and 82.6% in Cranston. In both Rhode Island and Cranston, Hispanics account for the second greatest population, and African Americans account for the third. Overall, it is clear to see there is a great racial divide between the east and west sides of the city of Cranston.


 * Family & Community**

The community of Cranston can be considered part urban and part rural community (since parts of Cranston are more city like than others). In the city of Cranston there seems to be only a small amount of children in Cranston when compared to the Rhode Island number (but compared to other cities Cranston has a big children population). There are about 76% of the child population who live with two parents in their households. Cranston and Rhode Island have almost the same percentage for two parent households. In Cranston most households are made up of married couples rather than single parents. Most of Cranston is at an average income level (between rich and poor) though parts of Cranston are below the poverty level; it is less than 50%. Overall Cranston's family portrait is similar to Rhode Island's.


 * Safety Indicators**

Districts keep statistics about safety indicators in their area, such as number of children that experience abuse and neglect, those who witness abuse between other people in their homes, and also the number of children with incarcerated parents. In Cranston, the average number of children experiencing abuse and neglect seems to fall in line with the number in Rhode Island as a state. However, Cranston is an economically diverse city that includes poorer/wealthier areas and within these areas the amount of child abuse and neglect can vary greatly. It is only the average that is similar to the State of Rhode Island. Regardless of the fact that the city and state have similar numbers, the amount of abuse is disturbingly high for both, with almost 1/3 of all children being present during domestic violence cases, and around 10 percent of children actually experiencing that abuse.


 * Conclusion**

Overall, the district of Cranston is diverse racially and economically. We see a great divide between the western and eastern sides of the city, which definitely correlates with many of the reported findings. While the Western side of the city is predominantly wealthy, the Eastern side is far more urban, explaining the disparities between the two. The community of Cranston is one that is rich in diversity, lifestyle, and academics.

**References**