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A subcommittee of the steering committee developed a systematic Neighborhood Observation Checklist to document characteristics of selected blocks within the areas from which survey respondents were sampled, adapting items from several existing instruments and developing new items as needed. The final 140-item checklist assessed aspects of the social and built environments for each study block (e.g., condition of homes and businesses, vacant lots, streets and sidewalks, traffic patterns, and parks and recreational facilities). Neighborhood raters completed a 36-hr initial training period followed by group and individual practice sessions, and feedback of interrater reliability statistics based on practice blocks. Eleven Detroit residents were trained and certified and collected data using the HEP Neighborhood Observational Checklist on 551 blocks across the three study neighborhoods during a 15-week period in the summer and early fall of 2003.

For more detailed information about the Neighborhood Observational Checklist, see
• Inter-rater and test-retest reliability: methods and results for the neighborhood observational checklist
• Handheld computers for systematic observation of the social and physical environment
• Use of Community-based participatory research to assess environmental determinants
of health: Challenges, facilitators, and implications for universities