Living wage
The minimum hourly compensation required for a worker to afford basic necessities including housing, food, transportation, healthcare and other essential expenses in Los Angeles County, working full-time (2,080 hours per year). In LA County, this differs from minimum wage requirements, with the County setting rates for unincorporated areas and the City of LA maintaining its […]
Local hiring program
Employment initiatives that prioritize hiring workers who live within a specified geographic area or community, typically used in transit construction and operations to ensure project benefits reach nearby residents. (Source: Toolkit project team definition)
Local Small Business Enterprise (LSBE)
A designation available to Metro SBE-certified firms that are headquartered in Los Angeles County and have maintained that headquarters for at least six months prior to receiving the designation. LSBE participation is a meaningful corridor-level equity measure, as it indicates project spending remaining within the local economy. (Source: Adapted from Office of Small Business – […]
Mobility justice
A vision for a world rooted in social justice where people feel safe existing on the streets and can build lives experiencing the full joy of movement regardless of their physical ability. (Source: Lynda Lopez, “What does mobility justice mean?”, Streetsblog Chicago)
Natural disaster
A calamitous occurrence generated by the effects of natural hazards, rather than human-driven phenomena, that disrupts societal function and produces one or more of the following: great loss of human life, and/or destruction of the natural environment, private property or public infrastructure. A natural disaster may be caused by weather and climate-related events or by […]
Natural hazard
A naturally occurring process, event or phenomenon that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, social and economic disruption and/or environmental degradation. These hazards include phenomena like earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and volcanic eruptions. Some natural hazards, including hurricanes, wildfire, flooding, extreme heat and extreme cold, may be exacerbated by the […]
Project factors
Key considerations and priorities for initiatives that are important to Metro communities. Project factors link planning to equity in various ways and are important to keep in mind when evaluating equity impacts and outcomes. (Source: Toolkit project team definition)
Redlining
A discriminatory practice in which financial services are withheld from neighborhoods that have significant numbers of racial and ethnic minorities. (Source: Nadia Lathan, “50 years after being outlawed, redlining still drives neighborhood health inequalities”)
Restrictive covenants
A provision on a deed, mortgage or other recorded instrument that regulates the ownership or use of a parcel of real estate. Discriminatory restrictive covenants spread throughout the United States in the early twentieth century. Discriminatory restrictive covenants were intended to prevent people of color from moving into certain neighborhoods. Although they are now illegal […]
Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs)
Local centers, typically hosted by universities or state agencies and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), that provide counseling and low-cost training to small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. (Source: Adapted from US Small Business Administration and Toolkit project team)