US Measuring Income Inequality with Trees

[Spang]

Turns out there’s a direct correlation between the number of trees a neighborhood has and its monetary wealth — and we can see how this dynamic plays out in space. Environmental journalist Tim De Chant mapped it all out for us on his blog, Per Square Mile, where he worked up a small project called “Income Inequality, As Seen From Space.”

De Chant took satellite images from Google Earth that compared two neighborhoods from selected cities to show income disparities.

[...]

Below are some of the maps from De Chant’s post. The median household income numbers have been added by Colorlines.com.

OAKLAND | 2009 estimated median household income: $51,473
West Oakland | 2009 estimated median household income: $26,432

Piedmont | 2009 estimated median household income: $165,903

[...]

Source

 

[das_nut]

I suspect this journalist is indirectly measuring population density, which tends (in urban and suburban areas) to correlate with the area each household lives in, and thus correlates with average household income (lower incomes tend to be able to afford smaller homes).

ETA: "Area" being the size of the house or apartment the family lives in.

 

[Freesia]

I think that nicer housing usually means big gardens and grassy verges with trees. Poor people cannot afford to live on the big properties.