Denver City Wire

The Neighborhood Equity & Stabilization (NEST) Index will direct NEST resources to 18 Denver neighborhoods 

Denver Economic Development & Opportunity (DEDO) has developed a tool to measure economic and cultural vulnerability in Denver neighborhoods across social, business, and economic indicators. The new NEST Index has identified 18 neighborhoods where residents and businesses are most likely to experience negative pressures of growth, including involuntary displacement and exclusion from opportunities. This tool will be used by DEDO’s NEST Division to guide intentional investment, funding, and programming in NEST priority neighborhoods.  

“Cities grow and change in ways that are influenced by policies but also by things outside our control,” Mayor Michael B. Hancock said. “Our goal is to better understand these wide-ranging factors and how we can affect them, particularly so we can ensure all residents can benefit from Denver’s growing prosperity.”  

“The NEST Index gives us better understanding of how neighborhoods are more vulnerable to economic change,” said Jen Morris, DEDO Executive Director. “This Index is possible because of a strong application of research and a higher level of trust from small business owners, neighborhood advocates, and grassroots nonprofits sharing their perspectives. Blending current technology with outreach, I am proud that today’s analysis is transparent, consistent, defensible, and replicable.”  

Since its creation in 2018, NEST has granted over $22 million dollars in 10 neighborhoods, and has served over 13,000 individuals and over 2,000 businesses. With this new NEST index, funding will continue to be prioritized in the expanded list of neighborhoods, including federal funding from Community Development Block Grants and the Neighborhood Activation Program.    

The new NEST Index applies ten detailed indicators, identifying 18 neighborhoods. Social, economic, and business indicators include: adults over age 25 with less than a high school diploma, languages other than English spoken in the home, households lacking internet access, unemployment, people living at or below the poverty level, foreign born population, cost burdened housing, business with annual gross sales under $500,000, households with income less than $75,000 over the past 12 months, and the change in number of businesses from 2017-2021.  

All 78 city neighborhoods were analyzed, reported Seneca Holmes, DEDO’s Chief Officer of Neighborhood Equity & Stability. “This is a significant step in better understanding who is potentially being left behind and where to put resources. This Index ensures that as Denver continues to change, NEST can use current data to direct dollars and impacts to the neighborhoods that need it most,” said Holmes.  Details on this new methodology and measurements of the NEST Index are available here. 

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About Denver Economic Development & Opportunity  

Denver Economic Development & Opportunity is creating an economy that works for everyone. Learn more at denvergov.org/economicdevelopment.  

Original source can be found here.