Essay Example on Analyzing Community Challenges: A Necessity of Life

Communities face problems just like people face problems since challenges are always part of life. It is essential to analyze issues facing a community due to several reasons.

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To begin with, it helps give a better understanding of the core of the problem. Analyzing helps in the development of steps or actions to address the issue. Knowledge of the problem helps identify the factors preventing solving of the problem. Many challenges face Rural, suburban, and urban communities. Problems are common among populations, while others are different according to the way of life of the communities. Most of the challenges are more associated with demographic differences compared to geographic differences. I live in an urban neighborhood, and several issues and problems affect our community, and this has become a significant concern among my community members. The problems and challenges we face are influenced by demography, population density, and socioeconomic classes.

Substance abuse and drug addiction is the biggest issue that has affected the community. According to a survey conducted by Pew Research Center, drug addiction is associated with overdose and drug addiction in the community. The most frequent habit is opioid addiction, whose effect on the communities has been a threat. Most of the people in my community know people who are profoundly affected by the drug addiction problem. 87% of people living in urban communities have agreed that drug addiction is a significant challenge in the community. This problem has caused worry among the community members. However, the community is doing all it can to ensure that drug addiction is no longer a problem.

Unemployment is another challenge in the community. Most of the community members are either underemployed or unemployed. These people, therefore, use their time idling in their homes and wait for welfare money while they would be out there working or trying to look for jobs. As a result of this menace, the country suffers the risk of being poor, and therefore, the tax rates will increases. Standard of living will also decrease since the income of the unemployed is below the income of an average person. The gap between high and low-income people has also become wide, which is a big problem. The salaries of low-income people are becoming low while those of the high-income people are getting high.

Violence is a problem in the community. Violence is being witnessed in schools, streets, and in the media. This kind of abuse increases the risks of insecurity in the community. The violence seen in school causes unsafety to the kids attending such schools. Due to this violence, the kids will have a fear of meeting the gang that causes destruction, and they end up dropping out. The force displayed in the media allows kids to exercise the moves, especially wrestling on their fellow community children.

Affordable housing is another challenge among community members. The availability of affordable housing is becoming hard. Some of the houses available are inaccessible to the community due to the high amount of housing rates. Therefore, it causes some of the community members to live in poor housing conditions despite the presence of smart and luxurious houses in the community. The problem of unaffordable housing attributes to the increased unemployment rates that lower the income of the people; hence, they cannot afford appropriate or better housing facilities.

Crime issue is on the rise in my community. Some of the crimes include car theft, robberies, burglaries, and mugging. These criminal activities have increased and have caused disruption and destruction of the communities. The increase in crime rates is due to the increased size of the community members. The crime rates is also influenced by the high number of unemployed people, idlers in the community and those people who have a low-income rate with poor housing conditions. Property crime is the highest crime experienced in the community. Most of the community members have been victims of the criminals who mug or steal their items and property.

An environmental threat is another problem facing the community. Due to the increased urbanization, the infrastructure is strained, which in turn cause adverse weather changes that connected to changes in the global climate. This becomes an environmental threat, and some of them include flooding and epidemics. Due to the high population density of the community, environmental risks are likely to cause deaths and loss of finances. Protecting the community against these environmental threats is a big challenge and problem for the authorities.

Air pollution is another problem facing my community. Since it is an urban community, air pollution is not a new thing due to the presence of motor vehicles whose exhaust fumes emit gases into the atmosphere. This air pollution problem has increased the risks of people in the community to suffering various illnesses associated with air pollution. The consequences of air pollution are that people eventually suffer from respiratory diseases, and the mortality rate has increased (Stylianou & Nicolich 2213). This problem, however, affects people of other races in the community more than the white people.

Inequality is another problem that is facing my community. The number of rich people in the community is increasing as the days go past. However, the number of poor in the community due to lack of employment is also on the rise. The gap between the poor and the rich is, therefore increasing. This kind of difference is causing destabilization of the community, and consequently, any developments in the community will be upended. It is therefore essential to ensure that the progress among the community members is equal to ensure that there is equitable sharing of the community resources and development.

Overcrowding is a problem that most urban communities face, including mine. Residential crowding is common in my community, whereby most of the community members live in a limited space - the streets filled with apartments and other housing types. The cause of the crowding is due to the increased population density of the community. The dwelling units have limited space due to the limited space provided for building, and this is also a form of crowding. This kind of overcrowding could lead to depression, crime, stress, and aggression of some of the members in the community (Regoeczi 254).

Conclusion

In conclusion, communities face problems. Most of these problems are influenced by the demographic differences, socioeconomic classes, and the population density of the community. Our community has faced several issues and challenges in which the intensity of some is high. Some of the problems include substance abuse or drug addiction, unemployment, overcrowding, poor housing conditions, air pollution, inequality, environmental threats, crime, and violence. In my opinion, some of these problems could be solved if everyone in the community participated in eradicating them.

References

Regoeczi, W.C. Crowding in context: An examination of the differential responses of men and women to high-density living environments. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 2008. 49, 254-268.

Stylianou, M., & Nicolich M.J. Cumulative effects and threshold levels in air pollution mortality: Data analysis of nine large US cities using the NMMAPS dataset. Environmental Pollution, 2009. 157, 2216-2213.