New small area data on banking deserts and shade
Kathy Pettit
Apologies for the recent spam getting through + our pause in posting. NNIP has been very busy in 2025 - I'll send a separate note on our network progress.
In the meantime, I wanted to share these two new-ish neighborhood level datasets. It's especially heartening to see new data development while other federal neighborhood level data might be at risk.
Best,
Kathy Pettit
Co-Director, NNIP
Senior Fellow, Urban Institute
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BANKING DESERTS DASHBOARD
Now updated with 2025 data, the Banking Deserts Dashboard includes census tract-level information on physical bank branch availability across all 50 states from 2019–2025, allowing a user to track changes in access over that time period. Identifying communities with limited access to physical bank branches can help leaders devise solutions for meeting the financial and banking needs of their residents.
SHADE MAP
One of the most effective ways to bring down temperatures in
a neighborhood is with shade and green features like trees and grass. Shade
provides relief on dangerously hot days and ensures that people can safely
spend time outdoors without risk. But the distribution of trees and shade
structures isn’t fair and some communities — often those that are home to more
people of color and families with lower incomes — experience significantly
higher temperatures as a result.
The Shade Map, created by American
Forests and UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation identifies shady
areas in a neighborhood and where it is lacking, helping decisionmakers across
the country prioritize planting trees and building structures that provide
shade in areas that need it most.
Dive into the resource: Shade Mapping - Shade
Is Essential. Trees Make It Possible.