Windshield Survey of the Bronx: Health, Economy & Community
This windshield survey examines the Bronx borough of New York City across several key community health dimensions. Drawing on economic data, local health resources, environmental surveys, and community initiatives, the paper evaluates the Bronx's community vitality, social and economic indicators, available health services, environmental conditions, social functioning, and resident attitudes toward healthcare. While the Bronx demonstrated resilience during the recent recession by adding jobs and maintaining strong health and education sectors, persistent challenges remain, including elevated unemployment, low college-education rates, environmental health concerns, and unequal access to healthcare resources.
- Introduction: Overview of the Bronx windshield survey scope
- Community Vitality: Colleges, zoo, gardens, and economic growth
- Indicators of Social and Economic Conditions: Job growth, unemployment, and education rates
- Health Resources: Montefiore Medical Center and Bronx Health Center services
- Environmental Conditions Related to Health: Resident survey findings on environmental quality
- Social Functioning and Attitudes Toward Healthcare: Community groups and Healthy Bronx Initiative programs
- Conclusion: Summary of Bronx strengths and persistent challenges
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper applies a structured community assessment framework — the windshield survey — to a real geographic location, grounding each category in specific data and named local institutions.
- It balances positive findings (job growth, healthcare infrastructure, community programs) with honest acknowledgment of persistent challenges (unemployment, environmental concerns, health disparities), giving the analysis credibility.
- Each section maps directly to a standard community health assessment dimension, making the organizational logic transparent and easy to follow.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates the use of a windshield survey as a community health assessment tool — a method in which an observer systematically documents observable and reported community characteristics across social, economic, environmental, and healthcare dimensions. By citing primary sources such as a Federal Reserve speech, a local environmental survey, and institutional program descriptions, the author supports observational claims with credible evidence.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief overview statement, then moves through six thematic sections: community vitality, economic and social indicators, health resources, environmental health, social functioning, and healthcare attitudes. Each section is self-contained but contributes to a cumulative portrait of the Bronx. The conclusion synthesizes the paper's findings, reaffirming both the borough's strengths and its unresolved challenges.
Introduction
This windshield survey of the Bronx finds that while the borough experienced some difficulty during the recent recession, it appears quite vibrant socially and is rebounding economically, with generally good housing and healthcare infrastructure — though air pollution and other environmental problems remain concerns.
Community Vitality
If "vitality" measures the social and economic health of a community, the Bronx can be said to be doing very well. The borough is home to nearly a dozen colleges and universities, the Bronx Zoo (a world-class institution), and the New York Botanical Garden, considered among the finest in the nation. Sunshine Bronx, a local cooperative, further illustrates the growth spirit of the community.
Hunts Point at Sunshine Bronx is on the upswing, according to Adam Davidson writing in The New York Times. The area has fresh supplies of produce, fish, and meat, and it supplies meat and fish to virtually every grocery store in New York City (Davidson, 2012, p. 2).
Indicators of Social and Economic Conditions
William C. Dudley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, delivered a speech at a university in the Bronx in 2011. In his remarks, he noted that the Bronx sustained almost no net job loss during the recession — in fact, the borough added 10,000 jobs from the recession's start. Dudley attributed this job growth to a concentration of health and education facilities in the area, with Montefiore Medical Center serving as the borough's largest employer (Dudley, 2011).
Still, not everything is rosy as far as the Bronx economy is concerned. Approximately 12% of the workforce was unemployed at the time of the survey, and fewer than one-fifth of adults in the Bronx held college degrees (Dudley, p. 2).
Conclusion
While the Bronx did not lose jobs during the recent recession — in fact the borough gained jobs — and while it is home to many colleges and universities, there are still residents who need help, need employment, and are not as healthy as they could be. Visitors travel to the Bronx to see the Yankees, the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden, and other attractions, making the borough well known to the outside world. Nevertheless, environmental problems with direct implications for public health remain and must continue to be addressed.
Works Cited
Bronx Health Center. (2013). Services at Bronx Health Center. Retrieved May 18, 2013, from http://www.chnnyc.org.
Bronx Health Think. (2010). A survey on environmental health issues in the Bronx: Methods and summary of findings. Retrieved May 18, 2013, from
Davidson, A. (2012). Why can't the Bronx be more like Brooklyn? The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com.
Dudley, W. C. (2011). The national and regional economic outlook. Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Retrieved May 18, 2013, from http://www.newyorkfed.org.
Glickstein, B. (2011). Healthstyles focuses on CIR's Healthy Bronx Initiative & Change Attitude Now (CAN). Center for Health Media & Policy. Retrieved May 18, 2013, from http://centerforhealthmediapolicy.com.
Social Events Meet-ups near Bronx, NY. (2011). Trending "Social Events" meet-ups. Retrieved May 18, 2013, from
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