I walked around historic downtown Canton. Canton is the county seat of Cherokee County, Georgia. There were sidewalks and crosswalks all over the city which made it safe and easy to walk around. There were several different social determinants of health in just a mile long walk: government buildings, medical establishments, parks, restaurants, businesses, housing and places of worship. I found that a lot of the housing and buildings were old, but it makes sense because it is a historic city that is preserving older buildings. The buildings and housing did not seem unsafe even though they were old. There was accessible healthcare in Canton but not everyone who lives there can afford it. The majority of the workforce in Canton does not have a high education which brings down their incomes affecting what healthcare they can access. Poverty rates in Canton range from 13.3% – 20.1% of the population.
The New York Times. (2014). [Newsgraphic of poverty rate in Canton, Georgia] Mapping Poverty in America. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2014/01/05/poverty-map/index.html
United States Census Bureau. (2019). [Map of employment in Canton, Georgia in 2015]. On The Map (Employment). Retrieved from https://onthemap.ces.census.gov/
I find it interesting that the historic buildings are still up even now, if the income level base is lower due to education and job occupation, is there enough resources to maintain these buildings?