Drive to the north side of Indianapolis and you’ll find manicured lawns, well-stocked grocery stores, an abundance of restaurants, boutique retail stores, fitness centers, pet shops, parks and other amenities.
Life expectancy in this area is nearly 84, similar to countries like Switzerland and Japan.
Drive just 15 miles south of the north side and life is much different. There are abandoned homes, litter, an abundance of check cashing centers and convenience stores, which are oftentimes the only source of food for miles.
Life expectancy in this area drops to age 69, lower than life expectancy in Iraq.
These numbers are based on a study recently released by Indiana University Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI. The study shows that on average, people in the northern part of the Indianapolis area live 14 years longer than people in some inner city neighborhoods.
Tess Weathers, research associate at the IU Fairbanks School of Public Health, said the study gives and eye-opening view on variations in how residents live.
“What prompted this study was our concern about how health inequalities are fueled by inequalities in life. People’s lives are different based on things like the house they live in, the kind of education nearby, childcare and transportation. These things add up over time and can shorten lives,” said Weathers.
In the report, called “Worlds Apart: Gaps in Life Expectancy in the Indianapolis Metro Area,” Dr. Tamara Leech, associate professor at the IU Fairbanks School of Public Health, and her colleagues looked at five years’ worth of death and population data, broke it down by zip code, and saw a similar pattern: Life expectancy is lower in poorer neighborhoods.
Weathers understands that life expectancy differences should be obvious by simply looking out one’s window while driving through different parts of the city. However, the power and numbers behind the Worlds Apart study can serve as a wake up call and encourage residents to take the blinders off. It can also spark change.
“As a society, there are choices we can make to reduce the gaps. Every community has assets we can build upon,” said Weathers. “Maybe we’ll never get to the point where every community has the same kind of well-stocked store Carmel does, but we can certainly get to a point where every community has a full-service grocery store with some vegetables you’d want to eat, for example.”
Indy’s gap is not unusual. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has documented similar differences in other cities across the U.S. such as Minneapolis, New Orleans and in Washington, D.C. Like Indianapolis, a short drive means a dramatic difference in the average number of years lived.
“Indianapolis is very similar to all the other cities, especially the rustbelt cities,” Leech said. “Deindustrialization contributed to concentrated poverty.”
Over the last several decades, the number of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. fell. Those who could afford it moved away to the suburbs, leaving behind those who couldn’t.
“As you see more concentrated, isolated communities, more segregation by income and race, you’re going to see completely separate societies emerging,” Leech says. “That’s what life expectancy tells us.”
Migration is a key indicator in determining quality of life, but Leech said it’s impossible to pinpoint just one cause for the lower life expectancy found in poorer neighborhoods. She believes life expectancy isn’t just about mortality; it’s about how a community lives. Factors such as food access, quality of education and crime also affect life expectancy.
There are also other factors that unknowingly affect residents living in poor communities.
“Prior to the late 1970s, any paint on that wall is leaded paint, which can affect water systems,” Leech said, referring to a tattered wall near 49th Street and the Monon Trail.
Continue on the trail past 46th Street and there are fewer sidewalks and more crumbling buildings and roads. Restaurants become warehouses and patches of grass become alleyways. You can almost always hear sirens in this area of Indianapolis.
Jobs in these areas are scarce. Living in poverty leads to stress, which can also effect how long a person lives.
“Decision makers can’t always think about economics. Jobs are important, but I see the importance of jobs based on life expectancy, not so much as to how better jobs will increase property tax values,” explained Weathers. “It’s about changing one’s perspective. Jobs aren’t just about a paycheck. It’s about creating a strong community and engaging with people.”
Stress is also linked to unhealthy habits, such as smoking and overeating, which are linked to cancer, obesity and heart disease – society’s primary killers.
“For young kids, it affects neurological development,” said Leech.
Weather notes that when it comes to a society’s quality of life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the report show that only about 25 percent of what people think of as a healthy population can be attributed to behaviors and genetics. Seventy five percent of the wellbeing of a population comes down to social conditions.
She said positive changes in society’s ideals can positively affect a society in the long run.
“It’s going to take people saying ‘I’m not OK with the fact that some people live such a different life than me,’” said Weathers. “I also hope we get past the idea of blaming individuals. All of us have choices, but the box of choices the people who live in 46225 get is much smaller than the box given to people living in 46033 (Carmel).”
