Phase 3: Analyzing the Aggregate Strengths and Weaknesses

Running head: SELECTING THE AGGREGATE 0

Selecting the Aggregate

Tanyanika McMillian

South University

The selected aggregate for this capstone project is in Spartanburg County in the state of South Carolina. It is the twelfth largest in the state in terms of population. The city is located on the latitude 340, 93’ N and longitude 810 99’ W.

The formal boundaries of the Spartanburg, SC encompass a land area of 19.77 square miles and 0.11 square miles of water (SC HomeTownLocator, 2016).

As at July 1, 2016 the population of Spartanburg was 38,047. In comparison to other cities, Spartanburg ranks in the upper quartile for population density and diversity index.

The city was formed in 1785 and given the name after a local militia that existed during the revolutionary war. The incorporation of the city took place in 1831 and nicknamed the “Hub City” because it had several railroads that formed wheel hubs.

The first reason for selecting Spartanburg as an aggregate, is that the city is among one of the least healthy cities, according to USA Today. Some of the statistics include; the physical health index is 71.9, 30 percent of the residents are obese, 36.3 percent of them have high blood pressure, 13.7 percent live with diabetes , 6 percent have suffered a heart attack and the city has a poverty rate of 20 percent (Frohlich & Hess, 2014). More than 30 percent of the interviewed residents said that they could not perform age appropriate activities due to their health. In addition, less than 48 percent of the population engages in regular exercises and 27.5 percent are smokers. The second reason for selecting this aggregate is that the city only has three hospitals with a population of almost 40,000 and requires more health interventions.

Frohlich, T. C., & Hess, A. E. (2014, April 13). America's least healthy cities. Retrieved from USA TODAY: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/04/13/least-healthy-cities/7586917/

SC HomeTownLocator. (2016). Spartanburg, SC Profile: Facts, Map & Data. Retrieved from SC HomeTownLocator: http://southcarolina.hometownlocator.com/sc/spartanburg/spartanburg.cfm