Community Survey of Decatur – A City in Georgia

Part I: Community Description 

For every community, it is essential to understand the geographic, as well the social makeup to better understand the predisposing medical conditions and needs of the community to implement effective strategies better. Decatur is the county capital of DeKalb, Georgia and is a city which seats in the larger Atlanta metropolitan area having a current population of about 23,000 residents (McGrath, 2016) . The city's municipality is mostly believed to be larger than it seems bearing in mind the ZIP Codes in the County which bear the same name, Decatur. Due to its interconnectivity with other cities, Decatur has three MARTA rail stations, the Avondale MARTA Station, Decatur MARTA Station, and the East Lake MARTA Station, explained by the fact that the Decatur is geographically located 5 miles northeastern downtown Atlanta and is bordered to the West with Atlanta as well. The city's motto is, "A City of Homes, Schools, and Places of Worship." 

Decatur city was incorporated as a city in DeKalb, Georgia on December 1823, taking its name from the then Commodore Stephen Decatur. The city is governed by the Commission-Manager of the Decatur City Commission that is currently managed by Peggy Merriss. The landlocked city covers an area of about 4.2 square miles, which is equivalent to 10.8 square kilometers, standing at 1,043 feet above sea level (McGrath, 2016) . Historically speaking, during the 20h century, the larger Atlanta expanded to include coverage of the unincorporated county of DeKalb, ultimately surrounding two sides (the northeast and the western sides) of Decatur town. During this expansion period, many middle-class Americans who lived in the area fled to more distant regions outside the city, although of the recent past the city of Decatur has been on the highway to regaining its economic vigor. 

These recent developments are in part due to quite a number of perennial downtown investment plans that have since matured, making the city a trendy small live-work business district that offers convenient transport to downtown Atlanta. By gaining both local and national recognition as a growing city that has a high level of collective collaboration, the city has been on the rise when it comes to local and national development. It is impeccable to note however that despite all this glory, Decatur has over the years maintained, and continues to maintain a kind of individual commitment that retains a small-town touch, and advocates for its independence despite its close working relations with Atlanta (McGrath, 2016) . Demographically speaking, as of the recent census, the city had about 23,000 residents living in about 10,000 occupied housing units, with about 5,00 families residing in the city. These statistics show that the city is relatively invested in providing better housing facilities and employment opportunities to ensure that very few residents if any lie under the poverty line (McGrath, 2016) . This could also be interpreted to mean that with the ability to adequately cater for the daily expenses and bills, the families in the city are well enrolled in various medical insurance schemes, and as such have relatively better access to quality medical healthcare at any given point. Although there still would be cases of individuals who not only are unable to afford medical insurance coverage but are also not able to provide basic medical healthcare, which then leaves them at the mercy of free medical care systems and programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. The local government may be doing all it can to ensure all the residents of the city have stable sources of income, but more still needs to be done. 

This observation can be explained by the fact that the city has a population density of 3,000 people per square kilometer, making up for 11,000 housing units at a density of 3,000/ml 2 . It can be noted therefore that the city is rather densely populated, though the population is scattered evenly. Of racial makeup, Decatur city is made up of 74% white residents, 20.2% residents with African American origin, 2.9% Asians, 2.4% individuals of mixed races, 0.6% other races, 0.2% Native Americans (Heath & Heath, 2017) . Even though Hispanics and Latinos make up for 3.2% of the entire city population, it would be observed that the city does not evenly incorporate members of other races, and as such, it is not really diverse. The gap between the white race and the African American race is quite worrying, bearing in mind that the black residents are the next primary race after the whites. Even though the city is not dominantly white, the dismal representation of the other races would raise such questions as the level of diversity and inclusion in the town, and whether or not persons from non-white races are given access to equal opportunities in the city (Heath & Heath, 2017) . In other words, the racial makeup of the town would raise ethical concerns such as the levels of racial discrimination the minority races go through, whether or not they have access to better medical healthcare, employment and whether or not their standards of living are generally comfortable. It is common knowledge that in communities which portray a somewhat unfair representation of the minority groups, then the conditions under which the existing minority groups survive it would be harsh since they are in most cases secluded from accessing services and facilities as the dominant population does. 

In the city of Decatur, there are 35,000 (29.7%) households with minors (children under 18 years) living with their parents and guardians, 39% of these households are nuclear families, that is, they are composed of the husband, wife, and children living together, while 12% of the homes in the city have a female head without a father figure present (Frederick & Gilderbloom, 2018) . It is fascinating to observe however that 48% of the households under the category of having children under the age of 18 do not fit in either categories, that is, these households do not have either both parents or a female householder. They are therefore either led by father figures or the children themselves, in which of either case present a number of challenges to the children living therein, such as parental neglect. The lack of a proper parental figure exposes these children to various risks such as peer pressure whose effects may range from mischief to the severe impacts like drug abuse, imprisonment and the contacting of sexually transmitted infections (Frederick & Gilderbloom, 2018) . It is essential that children these young are adequately guided and counseled by their parents and guardians on the correct choices to make in life, but when the parent is missing in this case, the children are left on their own and forced to explore life by themselves. Such freedom is always prone to making wrong decisions influenced by equally inexperienced friends. The general population of the city is distributed evenly with residents under 19 years of age making up for 26% of the entire community, 27% from 45 to 64, 6% of the population from 20 to 24, and 12% of the residents are 65 years or older (Frederick & Gilderbloom, 2018) . The average income for a Decatur city household is $74,000. 

Part III: Problem Statement 

The primary medical challenge being experienced in Decatur, and the larger DeKalb County is the increased effects of obesity and tobacco use, which have become the leading causes of preventable death and disability. In understanding the impact of obesity and tobacco use in Decatur City, the DeKalb County released a report which showed that approximately 30% of adults and 13% of high school students in the county are obese, the majority of whom are residents of Decatur City (Khan et al., 2009). The obesity is contributed in part by the fact that 74% of adults in the region and 80% of the youth do not take the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables, in addition to 19% of these adults reporting no physical activity, both scenarios are known breeding grounds for obesity. The city believes that when the communities join hands with the DeKalb County Government, the alliance will play a leading role in building public consensus among the various stakeholders. The stakeholders include the health advocates, higher education partners and business leaders on how to reduce the burden of obesity and tobacco use, thereby reducing the death and healthcare costs that are associated with this menace. It is with this approach in mind that the Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) Initiative was designed to advocate for healthy living by promoting environmental changes at the local level, more particularly within the city (Khan et al., 2009). The initiative receives donations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC) to ensure various programs are implemented to prevent obesity and tobacco use. It is important to point out that the initiative in question thrives on the notion that if healthy options are not available, then healthy living is not possible. This is why the program not only seeks to educate the public on the dangers of unhealthy living but will instead invest in teaching the community on alternative forms of living, which are healthy. 

References 

Frederick, C., & Gilderbloom, J. (2018). Commute mode diversity and income inequality: an inter-urban analysis of 148 midsize US cities. Local Environment , 23 (1), 54-76. 

Heath, J., & Heath, E. (2017). Changing Demographics and Unprecedented Growth. In Planning Atlanta (pp. 37-49). Routledge. 

Khan, L. K., Sobush, K., Keener, D., Goodman, K., Lowry, A., Kakietek, J., & Zaro, S. (2009). Recommended community strategies and measurements to prevent obesity in the United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Recommendations and Reports , 58 (7), 1- 29. 

McGrath, M. (2016). Decatur, Georgia: Diversity, Gentrification, and the Art of Community Conversation. National Civic Review , 105 (2), 25-33.