The Playground Project: Evaluate
An evaluation of my data found that two-thirds of Philadelphia’s public elementary schoolyards lack playground equipment. Patterns in my data emerged where schools lacking proper playgrounds mimicked patterns of poverty and segregation. At these sites, kids play on bare, cracked concrete. Often, students share their play space with the staff parking lot, weaving between the parked cars as they play tag and dribble basketballs. Open dumpsters sit in plain view -- children climb them and play hide-and-seek around them at recess while overwhelmed aides tend to the needs of other students.
The sections of the city with higher concentrations of poverty have the least access to renovated school playgrounds. For example, several zip codes in North Philadelphia, including 19120, 19133, and 19140, contain almost no renovated playgrounds. 19120, containing Olney and Lawncrest, with eight schools in the neighborhood, contains zero renovated playgrounds. Only 17 percent of schools in the 19133, including Fairhill and West Kensington area, contain a renovated playground. In 19140, the Hunting Park section of Philadelphia, 33%, or 3 out of the 9 schools, contain a renovated playground. All three of these zip codes exceed Philadelphia’s average poverty rate of 25.8%. In 19133, which includes Fairhill and West Kensington, the poverty rate is more than double the city at 56.7%.
In addition to their economic segregation, these neighborhoods remain some of the most racially segregated parts of the city. In the 19120 neighborhood, 51 percent of residents are African-American, 16 percent of the population is Caucasian, 15 percent are Hispanic and Latino, and 13 percent are Asian. In 19133, with the second-lowest percentage of renovated school playgrounds, 41 percent of residents are African-American, 29 percent are Hispanic and Latino, 23 percent are Caucasian, and 0.7 percent are Asian.