Harry Stevens: For my Climate Lab column, I made a map of how much nature is in every neighborhood in America. Spending time in nature is positively correlated with living longer & healthier. 🌳 Search the map and look up your neighborhood here: www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi... 1/6

For my Climate Lab column, I made a map of how much nature is in every neighborhood in America. Spending time in nature is positively correlated with living longer & healthier. 🌳 Search the map and look up your neighborhood here: www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi... 1/6

Analysis | Mapping America’s access to nature, neighborhood by neighborhoodwww.washingtonpost.com Spending time in nature is linked to a longer, healthier life. But nature is not distributed fairly across the country.

I got these data from NatureQuant. Using satellite imagery and data on dozens of factors, they've distilled the elements of health-supporting nature into a single variable called NatureScore. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi... 2/6

Analysis | Mapping America’s access to nature, neighborhood by neighborhoodwww.washingtonpost.com Spending time in nature is linked to a longer, healthier life. But nature is not distributed fairly across the country.

In cities, differences in access to nature are as stark as other forms of inequality. I compared NatureScore with education, race, and income. Who are you and how much money you make have a big impact on how much nature you live near. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi... 4/6

I put the code for my data analysis and charts on Observable. Check my work here: - Cities and density: observablehq.com/@climatelab/... - Tracts and other variables: observablehq.com/@climatelab/... 5/6

To sign up for Climate Lab and get cool nature graphics in your inbox every two weeks, sign up here: www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/... 6/6

Sign up to get an email every time Harry Stevens publisheswww.washingtonpost.com Get email alerts every time Harry Stevens publishes.

I spend more time in "nature" now, living in a high rise in Alexandria, than I did living in a house in Fairfax. If the health benefits of nature are the point, than walkability and bikeability are as important as say tree cover.

Why should the core of a major metro city be considered "deficient" when it comes to nature access?

Yeah, framing it as “access” is misleading. The guy is talking about “nature” as a matter of being integrated into the built environment, rather than the potential of anyone to go to a natural setting.

Yeah I think that's right. Still a smidge off, to me - I dont think the core should have much nature to it. It needs to be super dense, prevent sprawl.

📌

Hi Harry, this is a great idea and I appreciate the time and effort you put into it. Question though -- the maps don't seem to account for "nature" introductions that aren't parks or open land -- is it just that NatureQuant did not do that or was it an active choice from you and WaPo?

For example, shoreline doesn't seem to impact the score greatly, and man-made nature-focused walking and biking trails like like the 606 in Chicago or the Lafitte Greenway in New Orleans don't seem to impact the score at all. Would you clarify?

In California you can go one better with the CA Protected Areas Database (www.calands.org). Not just “nature” as abstractly guessed from a satellite sensor, but real land legally accessible to the public as parks or preserves.

Now show the per capita CO2 emissions of each neighborhood

The Climate Impact of Your Neighborhood, Mapped (Published 2022)www.nytimes.com Where and how you live shapes your household’s contribution to climate change. Explore differences across the nation.

Excellent work!

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