Four miles can make a big difference. According to an article posted to Livestrong.com last September, an average adult can lose about a pound a week if he or she walks four miles a day (about 10,000 steps) without increasing caloric intake.
Marathoners will tell you that pacing in the first four miles is crucial to how well one will finish the race. Four miles below earth’s surface lies molten rock hot enough to provide electricity to Iceland, and four miles above sea level stands the peak of Denali, North America’s highest summit. (Denali was known as Mount McKinley until it was officially renamed by President Obama in 2015.)
Just as in fitness and geography, four miles can make a big difference in economies and in individual or household welfare. The most striking example of this difference I have ever observed up close is here in Glynn County. You have probably already guessed what four miles I am referring to — the four miles of causeway between St. Simons Island and downtown Brunswick.
A casual glance at data from the U.S. Census Bureau begins to tell a story of two very different communities on either side of the causeway. St. Simons (not including Sea Island) has a population around 16,000, 93 percent white, while a little more than 22,000 individuals call Brunswick home, 62 percent of them racial minorities. The median age on the Island is in the mid-50s and in Brunswick is under 40. Ninety-six percent of Island residents have a high school diploma, but only 80 percent of Brunswickians can boast the same.
The story of our four-mile divide gets stronger when we begin to look into economic welfare.
In a list of Georgia zip codes ordered from highest average income to lowest, Sea Island ranks first, Saint Simons 39th (sixth among zip codes outside metro Atlanta), and Brunswick is 940th (out of 953).
The median household income in St. Simons is nearly $76,000, while in Brunswick, it is under $28,000. More than one-third of Brunswick’s residents live below the poverty line, and over 95 percent of Islanders live above it.
But, wait! There’s more!
Since so many of our residents are retirees, measures of current income really only tell half the story of the economic divide between Brunswick and St. Simons.
A more complete picture — and even greater divide — emerges when we look at residents’ accumulated wealth, or net worth. The median net worth of an individual in Brunswick is less than $15,000. The median net worth for census tracts on the southern end of St. Simons ranges from slightly more than $118,000 to just over $200,000. And for the area north of Sea Island Road and east of Federica Road, the median net worth is above $500,000.
Given these facts, the stark differences between end points of the F.J. Torras Causeway are undeniable. How we respond to the facts is a subject of great debate among economists and policymakers and is a discussion that will require more space than I have remaining for this week’s column. (Look for more on this in coming weeks.)
But, isn’t it amazing what a difference four miles can make?
Reg Murphy Center