A Look Back at 2024
Highlights from the USC Lusk Center's Neighborhood Data for Social Change
Our hearts are with the many individuals, families, and neighborhoods across Los Angeles who have been impacted by the devastating fires that have ravaged our community. In times like these, we are reminded of the importance of community care and the resilience that defines Los Angeles. NDSC remains committed to telling the rich stories of these communities. If you are in need of support, we encourage you to utilize the Resource Directory from the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority (LAHSA), which can be accessed here.
At Neighborhood Data for Social Change (NDSC), we remain deeply committed to empowering communities and driving meaningful change across Los Angeles County through data and collaboration. Using data, we help local civic actors track measurable change, improve local policies and programs, and ultimately advocate for a better quality of life within their communities.
In 2024, NDSC expanded its impact by adding and updating a number of datasets to our mapping portal, developing the Community Development Index in partnership with CRCD, and partnering with community-based organizations to uplift recovery efforts across the County. These tools empower stakeholders to better understand the dynamics of their neighborhoods and attract investment to areas that need it most.
We’ve participated in a number of events and workshops, from showcasing digital equity best practices at the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership in Detroit to facilitating a roundtable at the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). Through these efforts, NDSC continues to amplify community voices and democratize data.
As we look ahead, we’re excited to broaden our impact and continue engaging with residents, policy makers, community based organizations and local officials across Los Angeles County.
Data Support
Our team has provided data support services to a number of community partners across Los Angeles County; view all recent data support projects, including dashboards, reports, and stories on our website .
Regional Recovery Hub
In 2022, the California Community Foundation (CCF) launched the Regional Recovery Hub to strengthen place-based coordination in Los Angeles County regions that were most heavily impacted by COVID-19. CCF contracted with six regional leads to build recovery action plans and distribute financial resources in their regions. Regional leads convened a table of local organizations to guide and implement the work in each region.
NDSC provided data and technical assistance support to each of the regions and their network of local community partners. Read more about the organizations and their respective work.
Coalition for Responsible Community Development
South LA All In (SLAAI) is a coalition-led initiative aimed at addressing persistent racial and socioeconomic inequities in South Los Angeles.
Anchored by the Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) in partnership with a diverse network of public, private, and community collaborators, SLAAI pursues two key goals:
- Promote a just and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, acknowledging South LA’s unique challenges and the disproportionate impacts of the crisis.
- Empower residents and local businesses to benefit from the surge of investment and development anticipated in Los Angeles ahead of the 2028 Olympics.
To support this mission, CRCD collaborated with NDSC to develop the Community Development Index—a user-friendly tool designed to help community stakeholders and leaders attract greater investment to South LA and other historically underserved communities.
The Book Truck
The Book Truck works to enhance literacy skills among foster care, homeless, and low-income teens, providing them with a pathway out of poverty. To support The Book Truck in understanding book access across communities, the NDSC team identified data sources for library and bookstore locations and mapped them throughout Los Angeles County.
Data Updates
Our team has added a number of new datasets to our mapping portal over the last year across a variety of policy areas including Housing & Real Estate, Environment and Transportation, and Demography. To see all new and updated data sets, view our new release notes page .
New Housing & Real Estate datasets include Affordable Housing Covenants, Evictions, Tenant Buyouts, Cash for Keys, and Median Home Value.
Event Highlights
Los Angeles Poverty Summit
At the 2024 Poverty Summit, NDSC presented the Poverty Summit Dashboard, a comprehensive tool that displays poverty rates across a wide range of demographic groups in the City of Los Angeles. This dashboard, developed in collaboration with the Community Investment for Families Department (CIFD), highlights key indicators across a variety of policy areas, empowering stakeholders with actionable insights to inform policy and drive change. By showcasing this dashboard, NDSC contributed to the Summit’s mission of fostering cross-sector collaboration and advancing innovative strategies to end family and child poverty by 2035.
National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Conference
This year marked the sixth consecutive year our team attended the annual National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) Event. This convening serves as a platform for partners to exchange best data practices, showcase projects, and explore opportunities for collaboration. Since becoming NNIP's Los Angeles Partner in 2017, NDSC has leveraged this partnership to enhance its capacity to deliver data and insights.
Student Researchers
This past year NDSC trained over fifteen students as a part of our Research Assistant Training Program. RA's support research projects across various policy areas—including housing and homelessness—that are pertinent to the work of the Lusk Center for Real Estate.
Looking Forward
The Neighborhood Data for Social Change (NDSC) team is thrilled to introduce the State of Los Angeles County Housing and Neighborhoods (SOLACHAN), an annual resource offering accessible, high-quality data and analysis. Launching in the Summer of 2025, this comprehensive report will explore housing stock and neighborhood trends through a detailed examination of key indicators, including affordability, development patterns, and demographic shifts. By blending academic analysis with perspectives from developers and community representatives, SOLACHAN seeks to foster collective action around housing in Los Angeles County.
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