The Healthy Places Coalition advances public health involvement
in land use and transportation planning to ensure that all neighborhoods in
California promote the opportunity to live a healthy life.
Opportunities for Action
Sign On: All Communities Deserve Safes Places to Play and Be Active
Safe Places to Play and Be Active, developed by the Joint Use Statewide Task Force and the Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments, articulates a vision for equal and accessible physical activity opportunities. Safe Places to Play and Be Active will be presented to local, state, and federal policymakers to garner their support for effective health and equity promoting policies and practices. To read the document, click here. Join other supporters including CPEHN, Safe Routes to School Partnership, CANFIT, and The City Project and sign on today as an organization or individual endorser, click here to contact Sandra Viera at Prevention Institute.
Funding: The Department of Housing and Urban Development Now Accepting Applications for Community Challenge Grants
The program provides grants to help achieve affordable, economically vital, and sustainable communities. This program supports activities including amending or replacing plans and codes, the reuse of existing building for new purposes, the development of affordable housing through inclusionary zoning ordinances, and acquisition of land for affordable housing projects. For further information please click here. Applications must be submitted by September 16, 2011 at 11:59:59 p.m. EDT to Grants.gov.
Events
Date: September 19, 2011
Location: Nile Hill in Preservation Park – 668 13th Street, Oakland, CA
Sponsors: Transportation for America and CPEHN
For more information and to register, contact Brooke Kuhn at brooke.kuhn@t4america.org or 415-577-5624.
Conference: Walk21 - The International Conference on Walking and Sustainability
Dates: October 3-5, 2011
Location: Vancouver, B.C.
Sponsor: Metro Vancouver
For more information and to register, click here.
Dates: October 16-19, 2011
Location: Washington, D.C.
Sponsors: HNTB, URS, and more.
For more information, click here.
Conference: Health Impact Assessment of the Americas Workshop
Dates: October 17-18, 2011
Location: The California Endowment – Oakland, CA
Sponsor: Human Impact Partners
For more information, click here.
Resources
This book edited by Andrew L. Dannenberg, Howard Frumkin, and Richard J.Jackson, analyzes how the built environment affects key facets of public health, and offers practical tools for reconsidering policy, engaging the community, and filling gaps in current research. To learn more about this book, click here.
Resources and materials from “Embedding Health and Equity in Southern California’s Long-Term Transportation Plan” hosted by Healthy Places Coalition, American Lung Association of California, Climate Plan and other partners, are available here. Additionally, read about the lessons learned from the Safe Routes to School California blog here.
Getting Involved in Transportation Planning: An Overview for Public Health Advocates
This fact sheet, created by Public Health Law & Policy and TransForm, discusses the important link between transportation planning and health and describes the key players and processes of local and regional transportation planning, as well as suggests ways to advocate effectively for healthier transportation policies. Download the fact sheet here.
California Progress Report: The First Sustainable Community Strategy Is Released - How Did it Fare?
Brief by California Progress Report analyzes the first submission of a draft to the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) in accordance to the ongoing implementation of SB 375, California's Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act. SB 375, is the nation's first legislation to link transportation and land use planning with global warming. Regrettably, San Diego’s SCS report fundamentally remains a ‘highway plan.’ To read the full article, click here.
Partnership for Prevention: Transportation and Health: Policy Interventions for Safer, Healthier People and Communities
Report by Partnership for Prevention uses evidence from government agency reports and statistics and peer-reviewed academic journals to evaluate the impacts of transportation policies on environmental public health, active transportation and traffic injuries and fatalities both in the short- and long-term. To read the full report, click here.
Huffington Post: For Want of a Crosswalk, a Life was Lost
News article from the Huffington Post, highlights Prevention Institute’s Larry Cohen and Dr. Richard Jackson, Chair of Environmental Health Sciences at the UCLA School of Public Health, examine the tragedy of the death of Raquel Nelson’s child on a busy street. They conclude, “We shouldn't design highways where pedestrians who need to cross have no safe places to do so -- no lights and no cross walks within reasonable distances, and with cars going too fast.…Instead of wasting our time debating who should be punished and how much, we need to invest our traffic safety funds in efforts that keep our children and families safe.” To read the entire piece, click here.
To contribute to the Healthy Places Coalition Digest email Sandra@preventioninstitute.org.
