2025 3 10 Work Session Packet 1

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Equity Considerations 
Equity considerations are integral to addressing the needs of disadvantaged communities or vulnerable 
populations. Three measures of equity were utilized in the City of Athens SAP process: the Centers for Disease 
Control (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index , Area of Persistent Poverty designation, and Historically 
Disadvantaged Community designation. Justice40 Interim Guidance defines these measures as follows: 
• The CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index uses a combination of socioeconomic factors, household characteristics, 
racial and ethnic minority status, and housing and transportation issues to rank the social vulnerability of each 
census tract across the City. T hose falling in or above the Medium -High or High Vulnerability groups were 
considered tracts of concern in the Athens SAP.  
• Areas of Persistent Poverty meet at least one of the following conditions:  
• The City in which the project is located consistently had greater than or equal to 20 percent of the 
population living in poverty in all three of the following datasets: (a) the 1990 decennial census; (b) the 
2000 decennial census; and (c) the most recent (2021) Small Area Income Poverty Estimates; OR 
• The Census Tract in which the project is located has a poverty rate of at least 20 percent as measured 
by the 2014-2018 5-year data series available from the American Community Survey of the Bureau of 
the Census; OR 
• The project is in any territory or possession of the United States. 
• Historically Disadvantaged Communities have been “marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by 
pollution or include any Federally Recognized Tribe or Tribal entity, whether or not they have land”. Note, the most 
recent downloadable geodatabase available (dated December 20, 2024) from the USDOT’s Justice40 Initiative 
website included a list of census tracts considered by USDOT as Historically Disadvantaged Communities and 
Areas of Persistent Poverty in McMinn County.  
The City of Athens SAP considered these three measures in developing project implementation prioritization 
as these geographic areas are representative of equity concerns. Figure 15 describes the demographics of 
Athens, while Figures 16-18 show areas of equity consideration. Disadvantaged communities and vulnerable 
populations in the City of Athens generally follows Decatur Pike and Congress Parkway or are in the center of 
the City.  
The public and stakeholder involvement activities which were part of the City of Athens SAP  were done in 
person and virtually to be inclusive and representative of a broad cross-section of City’s residents.  
 
FIGURE 15: DEMOGRAPHICS OF ATHENS  
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