by Owen Cheung, Shirley Hu, Truong Le, Jason Lim
Project Slide Deck | Full Report
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InterConnection, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Seattle, WA focused on making information + communication technology accessible to underserved communities.
For this project, we were tasked by InterConnection to investigate the digital access divide outside of Seattle. They aim to bridge the digital divide by providing devices such as computers + laptops as well as affordable internet options for households that lack those resources. InterConnection believes that much of the population that was previously served by the organization have moved outside of the immediate vicinity of Seattle and into surrounding areas.
So the question is... where?
To answer this, we collected + compiled data -> created visualizations highlighting areas more heavily impacted by the digital access divide. We hope this might help InterConnection gain better insight into exactly where their target communities have moved to.
Research
Through our research, we determined several important variables used to pinpoint underserved communities in Pierce and King County:
Income
According to this study by the Pew Research Center, individuals with an income of 100K or more a year were almost 50% more likely to have access to a desktop/laptop and internet, compared to somebody with a lower income (0 - 30K a year).
We identified a large gap in median income levels within the Southern part of King County/Central to Southwest Pierce County. Specifically, we see these gaps in the SeaTac, Kent, Auburn, Federal Way, Tacoma, Lakewood, and Steilacoom regions.
Education
In terms of education, we reason that an individual with access to higher education is more likely to have the digital literacy and resources to have sufficient broadband/devices at home compared to those without.
We identified a gap in areas where people pursued higher education specifically in our areas of focus; Pierce + South King County.
Computer Access
We looked into the percentage of households in each census tract without any kind of computer access at home. The average percentage of households without a computer in Washington state was 4.19% in 2021.
Note darker regions south of Seattle and east of Tacoma.
Internet Access
Similarly, we also looked into the percentage of households without any internet access as of 2021. For comparison, the average percentage of households without access to any computer for Washington state was 5.99%. Thus, any higher values would be areas of interest for outreach. The darker census tracts are important to focus on, with some areas having nearly 15% of the total number of households without internet access.
We also explored options for locations that people might choose to access public wifi. Here are all the public libary locations within King and Pierce County with a 1 mile radius.
But how can we synthesize this information?
A composite index is a tool that allows us to combine multiple variables into a single metric to help us determine which areas experience inaccessibility to digital devices and the internet.
We created a composite index of the income level, percent of households without access to any laptop or computer and households without an internet subscription. The values mean that these areas have lower than average values (for example, the average income level per household in the county) for each of the three variables. Below we have included the 10 census tracts in ascending order with the lowest composite index values. The data we used to calculate these values are from the U.S. Census Bureau for the year 2021.
| Census Tract (Pierce) | Approx. Location | Composite Value |
|---|---|---|
| 53053061601 | Just south of the Stadium district (Tacoma) | -2.719 |
| 53053061501 | Area surrounding Wright Park in Tacoma, west of the port | -2.324 |
| 53053061002 | Encompassing Tacoma Community College, slightly north of Fircrest (Tacoma) | -2.293 |
| 53053940006 | Near the neighborhood of Salishan and Swan Creek Park (Tacoma) | -1.964 |
| 53053060907 | Area bordered by N 17th Street and N Pearl Street, west of Silas High School (Tacoma) | -1.914 |
| 53053061400 | G Street Neighborhood (Tacoma) | -1.860 |
| 53053071901 | Area near St. Clare Hospital and Clover Park (Lakewood) | -1.851 |
| 53053063401 | Fern Hill neighborhood (Tacoma) | -1.844 |
| 53053071806 | West of McChord Field, east of Ponders Corner neighborhood (Lakewood) | -1.775 |
| 53053071207 | Pierce College area (Puyallup) | -1.545 |
| Census Tract (King) | Approx. Location | Composite Value |
|---|---|---|
| 53033009100 | International district (Seattle) | -3.172 |
| 53033011001 | New Holly neighborhood (Seattle) | -2.825 |
| 53033030405 | West of West Valley Highway (Auburn) | -2.699 |
| 53033030501 | Area surrounding Christopher (Auburn) | -2.683 |
| 53033029203 | Near the ShoWare Center (Kent) | -2.654 |
| 53033009200 | Seattle area, west of International District | -2.626 |
| 53033023202 | Near Crossroads Park (Bellevue) | -2.559 |
| 53033005304 | University District (Seattle) | -2.492 |
| 53033028403 | Immediately east of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SeaTac) | -2.332 |
| 53033029206 | O'Brien region, north of Kent (Kent) | -2.291 |
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