DULUTH, Minn. (Northern News Now) – For decades, residents of Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood have been living shorter lives on average than others elsewhere in Duluth.
In 2013, a Saint Louis County report found life expectancy for Lincoln Park and downtown Duluth residents to be the lowest in the county.
In 2020, census data broke that down further, showing that census tract 156, or Lincoln Park’s lower neighborhood along the highway and harbor, has one of the lowest life expectancies in the entire state.
There, life expectancy is just 69 years, meaning 99.5% of Minnesotans can expect to live longer than the neighborhood’s residents.
Jodi Slick, CEO of Lincoln Park nonprofit Ecolibrium3, says the built environment of a community can have significant impacts on health.
“Research has been showing that your zip code may be a greater predictor of your health than actually your genetics, which is what we always think about,” Slick said.
How that plays out in a neighborhood is complex.
Where someone lives has countless impacts on health—it affects food options, access to healthcare, job opportunities and housing.
Helen Davis has been a resident of Lincoln Park since moving from Chicago in 2016.
She was priced out of her apartment just this past year.
“The price was nine something and now it’s $1,200 for two bedrooms to live,” Davis said. “I was like, I can’t afford that, so I have to leave out of this place that I lived for eight years.”
Housing is consistently named as one of the neighborhood’s—and Duluth’s—greatest challenges, but rising costs have a disproportionate impact on Lincoln Park residents.
St. Louis County Public Health program coordinator Josh Gorham says many houses there are over 100 years old.
“We know that housing stock is older,” Gorham said. “We know that a higher percentage of people rents in that neighborhood.”
Looking at the neighborhood’s recent history shows what kind of housing many residents are likely renting.
“Well, we had the 2012 flood,” Gorham said. “What happened in those places where people live? Because when there’s flooding, you start to think about things like air quality and mold.”
Davis says residents often can’t escape poor housing options, even with assistance programs.
“You got to take that voucher and live in something that you don’t feel comfortable living in, but you don’t have a choice to live in that, and that’s not fair to the community,” Davis said. “I feel like things need to change.”
Even if a resident’s housing is safe, St. Louis County Commissioner Ashley Grimm says the neighborhood’s proximity to an overpass affects everyone.
“You’ll see higher rates of asthma,” Grimm said. “All of these things really come together. It’s not an accident that life expectancy goes down when you have all of this air pollution, and you don’t have a grocery store in the area.”
The neighborhood’s lack of a grocery store is a problem top of mind for Slick and others at Ecolibrium3.
“Food access of course has been something the neighborhood has been focused on for decades ever since the small grocery stores kind of closed in this neighborhood,” Slick said.
It’s also a neighborhood where fewer people own cars, making it a challenge to get to a store with healthy options and fresh produce.
Besides restaurants, gas stations are currently the only source of food in the area.
And at the end of the day, everything has a cost, even health.
“Some are afraid to go to the hospital because they don’t want to get a bill,” Davis said. “They already can’t afford housing, and they already can’t afford sometimes to have food.”
Median household income in 2020 for Lincoln Park’s lower neighborhood was roughly $30,000 compared to roughly $52,000 for all of Duluth.
It’s the puzzle piece that ties almost all other factors together.
“The cheapest rent are going to be in those homes that are your oldest homes that then may require more energy,” Slick said. “So now you’re paying more dollars just to be able to heat your home, which means you can’t afford a car.”
Income’s impacts are far-reaching, but Gorham says the story doesn’t have to end there.
“Income does correlate with life expectancy, or it has in the past,” Gorham said. “And I think we ask the question: does it have to?”
In partnership with the CDC and St. Louis County, Ecolibrium3 released a study inspired by that very question in 2022.
However, it wasn’t just a study; it was an action plan.
“Honestly, a pretty report on a shelf doesn’t make anybody live longer,” Slick said.
It outlined steps to address health disparities, including plans for a grocery store that Ecolibrium3 is now putting into action.
The store, expected to open this summer, plans to sell produce and food staples from a storefront on West Superior Street.
Ecolibrium3 will also be opening a community center where people can access a computer, take classes, or simply gather together.
“There’s a recognition that your health and your longevity is also very, very associated with how connected you are in your community and whether or not you have a sense of purpose,” Slick said.
While they’re leading the charge in many ways, Ecolibrium3 isn’t working alone.
They partner closely with the county, a number of other nonprofits, and the community.
“There’s great strengths in the neighborhood, and it’s with the people and their voices in advocating for what they want to see in their community,” Gorham said.
A lot is happening in the community, but Slick says likely not at a rate that will drastically change 2020’s data.
“I would just say that the overall health of the neighborhood has not necessarily changed yet,” Slick said.
But she isn’t discouraged.
Life expectancy isn’t something that changes overnight, and as Davis sees it, Lincoln Park isn’t a community of people dying.
Just like any other Duluth neighborhood, it’s full of people living—something she had a clear view of from her old apartment overlooking Lincoln Park.
“I looked in this park, see the kids having fun,” Davis said. “You know doing hockey, doing basketball. They are having good ole picnics, partying, and music going. You know, it’s good to see that.”
Davis says Lincoln Park must rely on that community to move forward, and she has no doubt they will.
“It’ll get better,” Davis said. “It’s going to get better. We just got to hold on and keep the faith. It’s going to get better. I believe that.”
In addition to the census, a Bridge to Health survey also collected Lincoln Park health data in 2020.
It showed residents experience asthma, diabetes, heart trouble, high blood pressure, and other chronic diseases at higher rates than other Minnesota residents.
A 2025 Bridge to Health Survey is currently being planned.
The next census will not take place until 2030.
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