Building A Healthier Tomorrow Brochure

Building a Healthier Tomorrow Decisions made each day determine how we plan and build King County’s communities. Are these choices protecting people’s health?

By engaging in transportation, land use, and urban design projects, you can prevent disease and promote well-being. This brochure tells the story of King County’s new “in crowd” —the residents, developers, officials, and designers who are becoming health advocates.

What you can do today... Contents: •

Build health into projects & plans • Making

a community walkable

• Success stories •

Resources

Look In side

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e Turn pag ss for succe stories

What will you do today?

Decision-Makers and Elected Officials

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Community Members

 Devote staff time to Health Impact Assessment  Encourage health as an objective in comprehensive plan and zoning updates  Dedicate funds for active transportation infrastructure  Establish an Active Living Task Force (see “Resources” for more)  Request a re+walk or community assessment from Feet First  Voice concerns about health at planning and design meetings  Get free advocacy coaching from Feet First on how you can influence new development

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Planning  Learn about how the built environment influences health Commissions and  Recommend land use decisions that encourage physical activity; Design Review Boards include mixed uses and designs to support active transportation

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Planners and Designers

 Include physical activity goals in your designs and plans  Complete checklists to analyze a proposed project’s or policy’s effects on health, or send to Public Health for review

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 Learn about active transportation as a physical activity solution  Set up and participate in re+walks in conjunction with Feet First  Educate patients and colleagues on active living issues and effects of the built environment

Developers

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 Ask Feet First what you can do to maximize your positive impact on community walkability with your projects  Incorporate active transportation into projects

Government Agencies

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 Send SEPA/NEPA project proposals and updates to Public Health for review  Include health objectives in projects and in comprehensive plans

School Districts

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Health Professionals

Non-Profit Organizations

 Incorporate active transportation, safety, and health objectives in school siting decisions and planning  Organize community events around health themes and goals  Help everyone collaborate to make health a priority in their work

Build health into projects & plans

Building a Heal Some community designs support healthy lifestyles, vibrant businesses, and strong social ties. Residents of these neighborhoods are more physically active, report higher quality of life and health status, and weigh less. To achieve broad health goals, health outcomes should be considered at every stage and level of development, from permit review to comprehensive planning. There are many ways to get involved in making healthier decisions. Here are a few examples of what people are already doing, here in King County.

Making a Community Walkable: Step by Step How to redesign activity back into people’s lives by creating spaces where it is easy to be active.

Photos Dan Burden/Steve Price

• Mixed-use zoning attracts new development and promotes active transportation by bringing various land uses closer to each other, so distances between destinations are more walkable and bikeable • Reduced setbacks, compact lots and blocks, interesting streetfront designs, and mature trees improve the pedestrian environment

Land Use

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• Reducing motor vehicle lane width, adding medians and plantings, and installing street furniture like lighting and benches all have a calming effect on traffic, improving safety for all road users • Well-marked crosswalks, bicycle lanes, and wide sidewalks with planted buffers attract walkers and cyclists

Street Design

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• Wide roads lined with parking lots push buildings away from the street and encourage high vehicle speeds • Dispersed development patterns and zoning codes isolate land uses and create large distances between daily destinations • Distance, poor aesthetics, and danger discourage walking

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Design, land use, and transportation changes can make your neighborhood more walkable.

What is Active Transportation? Active transportation is the idea of integrating physical activity into daily tasks - as by walking to school, work, or shops. This integration makes it easier to get the recommended 30 minutes of activity, 5 days a week, 10 minutes at a time, without structured exercise.

lthier Tomorrow i Tools for Healthier Communities Health Impact Assessment (HIA)   

HIA is a way to evaluate the health effects of a policy, project, or program. HIA helps residents, advocates, developers, and officials analyze how current and future conditions might affect walking, bicycling, and transit use, as well as air and water quality, social cohesion, and safety.

Beacon Hill Plaza: Pilot HIA The Beacon Hill community in Seattle is proposing a pedestrian plaza and town center adjacent to its new light rail stop. This public space would enable safe access to shops, services, and paratransit. The plaza will give the community a place for farmers markets, festivals, concerts, and informal gatherings.

Before: Street designed for cars

Public Health and Feet First are piloting an HIA, reviewing plans, and attending public meetings. A final report will offer recommendations for how the plaza could best promote active transportation and social ties. After: Street with walkable, health-supportive proposals

Feet First re+walks

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A re+walk brings residents, employers, employees, and government stakeholders together to conduct a neighborhood “walking audit.” Community members identify improvements that make it easier and safer for people on foot to access transit, shopping, community activities, and work. Even people very familiar with a place will see things in new ways on a re+walk.

South Park: Community re+walk

Feet First re+walk - June 2005. Community members on a walking audit in South Park

The South Park Neighborhood Health Advocacy Group and Concord Elementary PTA members were concerned about dangers for children walking to school. Students wrote Mayor Nickels about their wish for stop signs near the school where cars frequently sped. Feet First organized a re+walk with the principal, staff, parents, and SDOT. Participants took pictures and notes, and Feet First compiled recommendations. By the beginning of the school year, SDOT had installed stop signs, improved road markings, and begun monitoring speed.

i n King County Leaders as Health Advocates Budgets: Funding Active Transportation Olympia, and Shoreline have  Seattle, each recently voted to dedicate new local funds to active transportation projects.

Seattle Mayor Nickels joins Asa Mercer Middle School students at the ground-breaking ceremony for a new 2005 sidewalk program. This sidewalk was recommended after a Feet First re+walk.

Public Health & Planning Staff: Land Use Proposal Health Review

   Public Health is connecting with planning staff in cities across King County to review potential health effects of new projects. Seattle requires that Public Health review all Master Use Permits. Public Health has also reached out to other agencies, asking for voluntary project submission for review. Despite heavy workloads, the Port of Seattle, Shoreline, and Kenmore already send updates addressing issues including landfill gas, contaminated soil, and walking access.

Burien Town Square: Leaders and Builders Making Healthy Places

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Burien leaders have sought a central public space since the City’s incorporation in 1993. On October 10, 2006, residents gathered for the ground-breaking of “the centerpiece of the cultural and economic renewal of Burien’s downtown.” Burien Town Square will offer retail, work, and residential space next to a new City Hall, Library, and 1.2 acres of open space. The Square will support community gatherings, walking, and economic opportunities. The project is paid for jointly by the City of Burien, the King County Library District, the developer Urban Partners, and federal funds secured by Senator Patty Murray and fellow members of Congress.

What You Can Do as a Community Member Attending Design Review Meetings: Residents Can Guide Design Choices

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Design review meetings are great places to help create better public places. Community members can encourage development projects to include new features. During the comment period, anyone can ask questions and comment on sidewalks, building orientation and entrances, access to bus stops, stairs, and other amenities.

Youth testify on behalf of Safe Routes to School at a 2006 City Council meeting

Additional Resources A concise reference for Health Impact Assessment - www.feetfirst.info/hia (sign up here for the HIA-USA listserv) The Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality, & Health project - www.metrokc.gov/kcdot/tp/ORTP/LUTAQH Washington’s Active Community Environments project - www.aces-wa.org (learn about Active Living Task Forces) “Public Health in Land Use Planning & Community Design” fact sheet - search www.naccho.org “Environmental Justice Checklist” - linked from www.wsdot.wa.gov/environment/envJustice/

The Promoting Healthy Built Environments project The “Promoting Healthy Built Environments project” (www.feetfirst.info/phbe) is a collaboration between the Environmental Health Division of Public Health-Seattle & King County and the non-profit organization Feet First. The project is made possible by a grant from Steps to Health − a federally-funded program led by community partners and Public Health-Seattle & King County. Steps focuses on preventing and controlling asthma, diabetes, and obesity. The PHBE project identifies environmental, policy, and institutional changes that support this program. www.metrokc.gov/health/steps Please contact us with your questions or to request training or assistance.

About Environmental Health: The Environmental Health Division educates and informs public customers and clients about healthy environmental practices and enforces state and local regulations to safeguard the health of all residents in King County. www.metrokc.gov/health/env_hlth

About Feet First: Feet First is a hub of creative, passionate people who can help your community in big ways. We build walkable communities by using an effective combination of outreach, advocacy, research, and education. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit membership organization, Feet First’s programs help citizens, professionals, business leaders, and officials.

2019 Third Avenue, Suite 110, Seattle, WA 98121 e-mail: [email protected] telephone: 206.652.2310 www.feetfirst.info