21st Century Infrastructure:
Creating Sustainable Communities
through General Plans and the
Healthy Community Design Toolkit
Partnering for Success
• Cynthia Melde, MS, Arizona Department of
Health Services
• Vincent Lopez, Maricopa County Department of
Public Health
• Felipe Zubia, AICP, ReSEED Advisors
• Serena Unrein, Arizona Public Interest
Research Group (PIRG)
• Dean Brennan, FAICP
Partnering for Success
• Linking Physical Environment & Health Of
Community Residents
• Policy And Community Change
• Transportation Issues And Policy Change
• Process For Policy Change
• Toolkit For Policy Change
At the Intersection:
Transit and Public
Health
Cynthia Melde, MS,
Arizona Department of
Health Services
What is Health?
Health is the state of complete physical,
mental and social well-being and not merely
the absence of disease or infirmity
- World Health Organization
Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults
BRFSS, 1990, 2000, 2010
(*BMI 30, or about 30 lbs. overweight for 5’4” person)
1990
2000
2010
No Data
<10%
10%–14%
15%–19%
20%–24%
25%–29%
≥30%
Modes of Transportation and Obesity
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Obesity
Car
Walk and Bike
Factors Responsible for Health
Physical Activity and Fitness
• Public Transit Users:
▫ Spend a median of 19 minutes daily walking to and
from transit
▫ 29 percent achieve 30 minutes of physical activity
during transit access trips
▫ Tend to weigh 3-7 lbs less than non-transit users
Respiratory
Emissions
• Reduce number of
vehicles on the road
• Use Electric or state
of the art engine
• Emission reduction
programs
Emissions
• Bus idling
• Older diesel buses
• Bus Depots in lower
income neighborhoods
• Concentration near
major roadways
Injury
• Transit vehicle occupants have about one-tenth
the fatality rate as car occupants
• Per capita traffic fatalities decline as transit
ridership increases in a community
Community Cohesion
• Increase opportunity for interaction while
walking, waiting at bus stops, and riding on
transit vehicles
• Helps increase connections and contacts
between neighbors
• Increase neighborhood safety
Mental Health
• Many commuters find public transportation less
stressful than driving
• Increase interaction
• Access
• Access educational and work opportunities
• Affordability
• Lower cost for transportation
Basic Mobility: Essential Services
• Particularly for disabled and disadvantaged
▫ Health Equity
• Connect to
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
Grocery Store
Healthcare Providers
Banking
Education
Social and Recreational activities
YOU are Public Health
Policy and Built Environment
Maricopa County Department of Public Health
Office of Public Health Policy
Vincent Lopez
Social Isolation
Negative Health
Outcomes
•Acute and chronic
stress
•Increased
vulnerability to
natural disasters and
epidemics
•Mental illness
•Substance abuse
•Reduced life
expectancy
•Violence
Relation to Built
Environment
Neighborhood Design
•Long commutes
•Few public gathering
spaces
•Lack of access to goods
and services
Transportation
•Lack of access to public
transit
Housing
•Housing instability
promotes highly transient
home occupancy
Policy Recommendations
Zoning
•Promote increased public
space, walkable
neighborhoods, and mixeduse development
Redevelopment
•Develop public venues,
including parks, open spaces,
libraries, cultural facilities,
and pedestrian corridors
Parks & Recreation
•Improve parks, recreation
facilities and open spaces for
community mingling
Unsafe Streets
Negative Health
Outcomes
Relation to Build
Environment
Policy
Recommendations
•Injuries and
fatalities
•Inactivity and
associated outcomes
including obesity
•Stress
Street Design
•Focus on auto use
yields fewer lanes for
bicycles, high traffic
speed and congestion,
noise pollution and
inadequate sidewalks
Ped & Bike Features
Lack of or poorly
maintained pedestrian
wheelchair, and stroller
amenities such as
walkways, crosswalks
Zoning
•Ensure zoning for bicycle
and pedestrian routes
Redevelopment
•Develop pedestrian and
bicycling infrastructure in
project areas
Schools
•Safe Routes to Schools
Parks & Recreation
•Ensure safe streets,
walkways, and bike paths
around parks or open
spaces
Lack of Physical Activity
Negative Health
Outcomes
Relation to Built
Environment
Policy
Recommendations
•Attention deficit
disorder
•Cancer
•Depression
•Diabetes
•Heart disease
•Obesity
•Stress
•Stroke
Community Access
•Limited or no open space
or parks
•School land unavailable
after school hours
Safety Concerns
•Poorly Maintained parks
•Outdoor activity limited
by air pollution
Auto Dependency
•Time spent commuting
diminishes time for other
activity
Zoning
•Adopt mixed-use
residential, commercial
and office zoning
•Adopt complete streets
design guidelines
Transportation
•Expand Safe Routes to
School programs
Park and Recreation
•Ensure safe, wellmaintained parks
Schools
•Joint use agreements
Unsafe Neighborhoods
Negative Health
Outcomes
Relation to Built
Environment
Policy
Recommendations
•Lack of outdoor or
physical activity due
to fear of crime
•Social isolation
•Stress
•Violence
Neighborhood
Design
•Spatially and
racially segregated
housing
•Limited access to
essential services
•Lack of parks or safe
places to play and
congregate
•Concentration of
alcohol and tobacco
retailers
Zoning
•Require developers to
provide for a mix of housing
types and affordability level
Redevelopment
•Rehabilitate blighted
properties
Transportation
•Safe transportation option
Parks & Recreation
•Access to parks and
recreational facilities in
underserved communities
Polluted Air, Soil and Water
Negative Health
Outcomes
Relation to Built
Environment
Policy
Recommendations
•Asthma
•Birth defects
•Cancer
•Heart disease
•Lung disease
•Neurological
disorders
•Reproductive
disorders
•Proximity of sensitive
sites (schools, housing
pedestrian and bike
paths, parks and
recreation) to sources of
air pollution
•Lack of green space or
trees to buffer or filter
pollution
•Auto-orientated
housing development
General & Area
Plans
•Promote transitoriented and compact,
mixed-use
development
Zoning
•Update building codes
to incorporate green
building principles
Partnership/Collaboration
• Modern city planning and public health arose
together in the rapidly growing industrialized
cities of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Early planners first began to zone city blocks to
buffer residential neighborhoods from polluting
industries, and sanitary sewers were built to
prevent cholera epidemics.
Partnership/Collaboration
Opportunities with Public Health
General Plans &
Transportation Policy
Serena Unrein
Arizona PIRG Education Fund
Impacts of Policy Decisions
• Impacts of our policies (or lack of policies) in recent
years:
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
High transportation costs
Long commutes
Loss of desert landscape
Increase in the urban heat island effect
Fewer affordable housing choices
Etc.
These problems negatively affect public health,
economic development, and quality of life in
Arizona.
Arizona’s explosive growth in recent years
+
a lack of policies supporting livable communities
__________________________________
=
Negative impacts for Arizona residents
So how do we change course?
• To solve these problems, long-term systemic
change and a variety of efforts will be needed.
• General plans are a good opportunity to
implement policies supporting livable
communities
What are General Plans?
• A general plan is a comprehensive, long-range
statement of goals and related policies
▫ Blueprint for the future growth and development
• Consists of seventeen different “elements”
▫ Transportation
• Required by state law
• Must be updated every 10 years
• Many counties, cities, and towns updating now
▫ Have until 2015 to complete update
Livable Communities Coalition
• Who is the Livable Communities Coalition?
▫ The LCC’s mission is to promote livable
communities through education and advocacy.
▫ The LCC unites a broad range of planning,
transportation, housing, and environmental
organizations and government agencies from
throughout Arizona
LCC’s Vision for Arizona
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mixed land uses
Preserve community character
Environmentally responsive design
Range of housing types and prices
Variety of transportation choices
Encourage compact development
Viable economic mix of both local business and
national ones
• Safe neighborhoods
• Promoting healthy living
• Community engagement
How can the LCC help?
• The LCC role in General Plans
▫ Work directly in 4 municipalities
▫ Provide resources for other communities across
the state
▫ Healthy Community Design Toolkit
• LCC Members
▫ Expertise from a variety of fields and issue areas
Arizona’s Future
Do we want to go down the same path we’ve
been going down?
Our Opportunity
• Let’s use General Plans and other opportunities
to create better policies and a better quality of
life for Arizona.
Transportation – Land Use Connection
• Relationship between land use and transportation is at
the center of smart growth strategies.
• Direct link between land use patterns and investment in
transportation facilities.
http://opencommunities.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/urban
-sprawl-florida-428x284.jpg
http://www.abacuspm.com/corp/export/sites/abacus/reso
urces/images/Mosaic_Condominium.jpg
http://thecityfix.com/files/2010/06/losangelestraffic.jpg
http://www.valleymetro.org/images/uploads/lightrail_images
/portland-place.jpg
Complete Streets
• History
• Barbara McCann – Smart
Growth America
• 2003 Complete Streets
• Definition
• 2005 National Complete
Streets Coalition
COMPLETE STREETS are:
“Designed and operated to
enable safe access for all users.
Pedestrians, bicyclists,
motorists and bus riders of all
ages and abilities are able to
safely move along and across a
complete street.”
Barbara McCann speaks to Transportation Secretary
Ray LaHood about Complete Streets. photo by Steve
Davis: http://www.bmccann.net/page2.html
• Complete Streets
Partnerships
 History
Complete Streets
 Definition
 Partnerships
• AARP
• Planning Complete Streets
for an Aging America
• American Planning Association
• Complete Streets: Best Policy
and Implementation
Practices
• T4 America
• Dangerous By Design
Partnerships
• Why
• Safety, Public Health
• Resource Protect
• Community Building
• Goals/Benefits
• Promote adoption of local,
regional, state and federal design
policies
• Secure funding
• Improve Safety
• Contribute to a Health Community
• Ease Congestion
• Improve Air Quality
Missoula, MT
http://streetswiki.wikispaces.com/Complete+Streets
Planning Process
1. Determine Context
a. Urban, Suburban, Rural,
Neighborhood
2. Identify Current Modes and Facilities
a. Inventory Facilities
3. Identify Complete Streets Gaps
a. Bike/Ped, Transit Gaps
4. Determine Additional Priorities
a. Green Streets, Economic
Development, Historic Preservation
5. Determine Right-of-Way and Lanes
a. Multimodal Design
6. Identify Additional Elements
a. Lighting, Shade, Signage, Street
Furniture, other enhancements
MAG Complete Streets
Guidehhttp://www.azmag.gov/Documents/BaP_2011-01-25_MAGComplete-Streets-Guide-December-2010.pdf
Complete Streets
• Success Stories
Before
Bridgeport Way – University
Place, WA
After
Complete Streets
• Success Stories
Before
La Jolla Blvd. – San Diego, CA
After
Complete Streets
• Success Stories
Before
Curb and Bike Lane – Boulder,
CO
After
Complete Streets
• Arizona Success Story
Avondale, AZ – Western Avenue
• 4-Lane Road with Center
Lane
• Designed to Move Traffic
• Lack of Visual Interest
• Under-utilized Parcels
• Lack of Pedestrian Amenities
IMPLEMENTATION
Arizona Success Story
Avondale, AZ – Western Avenue
• Reduced to 2 Lane Road with no Center
Lane
• Merging of Visioning with Engineering
Design
IMPLEMENTATION
Arizona Success Story
Avondale, AZ – Western Avenue
• Reduced to 2 Lane Road with no Center
Lane
• Merging of Visioning with Engineering
Design
• New Development Maintain historic
setbacks creating visual interest
• Multi-Modal Design
• Overall integration of Vision and
Design
Resources
• http://www.completestreets.org/webdo
cs/resources/cs•
http://www.azmag.gov/Documents/Ba
P_2011-01-25_MAG-Complete-StreetsGuide-December-2010.pd
Toolkit for Policy Change
Dean Brennan, FAICP
Project for Livable
Communities
Walking Today…It’s a Challenge
This neighborhood
provides no connectivity
for walking to the store,
to work, to school, to the
park, or to ride public
transit.
This street lacks
shade and protection
for pedestrians from
vehicular traffic.
Walking Today…It’s a Challenge
Dimensions of Community Design that
•RegionalPhysical
structure
Affect
Activity
•Density and intensity
•Land use mix
•Street connectivity
•Street scale
•Aesthetic qualities
Rethinking State and Local Planning
• Comprehensive
and General Plans
• Regional, Area,
and Neighborhood
Plans
• Redevelopment
Plans
• Retrofitting
Suburbia
Rethinking State and Local Planning
• Functional Plans
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
Health services
Bicycle and pedestrian
Transit
Streets and circulation
Trails
Parks and Open Space
Housing
Economic development
Education
Climate Change
Healthy Community Design Toolkit
Partnering for Success
Using the Toolkit
•
•
•
•
•
The Engaged Participant/Resident Planner
Review the Local Plan
Plan Format
How to Contact Your Local Government
Who to Contact
Partnering for Success
General Plan Checklist
The Circulation Element addresses:
•
•
•
•
Adoption of a Complete Streets Policy
Safe Routes to School Programs
Transit Oriented Development (TOD)
Transportation infrastructure that provides for an
interconnected system throughout the community/region
that serves all residents and minimizes/mitigates impacts on
neighborhoods
• Action Plan for Bicycle Friendly Communities
Partnering for Success
Example Policies
The Circulation Element
• Establish design guidelines and/or level of service standards for a range of
users, including access for the disabled and bicyclists.
• Incorporate the Complete Streets elements as the guiding principles for a
community based Complete Streets Policy.
• Encourage investment in Complete Streets.
• Develop and implement street design guidelines that create walkable, pleasant
environments.
• Identify street trees as an important technique for stress- and crime-reduction.
• Adopt universal design principles that address facilities such as sidewalks,
lighting, ramps for wheelchairs and bicycles, parking in rear of buildings, and
windows that face the sidewalk/ street.
Partnering for Success
TOOLS AND TOOLKITS
• AARP – Complete Streets Policy Inventory and Evaluation
http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/il/2009_02_streets_5.pdf
• AARP – Livable Communities: An Evaluation Guide
http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/il/d18311_communities.pdf
• Transportation and Health Toolkit
• http://www.apha.org/advocacy/priorities/issues/transportati
on/Toolkit.htm
• US DOT – Bikeability Checklist
• http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/bike/Bikeabilit
y/index.htm
Creating a Pedestrian Friendly Public Realm







Wide sidewalks and shared paths
Shade, shade, and more shade
Safe crosswalks
Amenities
Sense of place
Convenience
Safety & Aesthetics
Partnering for Success
CONDUCT COMMUNITY AUDITS
BUILD MORE AND BETTER
SIDEWALKS
MULTI-USE TRAILS
BIKE PATHS
TRAFFIC CALMING
Partnering for Success
CREATE WALKABLE STREETS
Partnering for Success
Toolkit for Policy Change
QUESTIONS?
Partnering for Success
Contact Information
•
•
•
•
•
Cynthia Melde – cynthia.melde@azdhs.gov
Vincent Lopez – vincentlopez@mail.maricopa.gov
Serena Unrein – sunrein@arizonapirg.org
Felipe Zubia – felipez@reseedllc.com
Dean Brennan – dbrennan.plc@cox.net
PART TWO
What are some of the issues you
are facing in your community?
Think about:
▫ Walkabiltiy
▫ Bikeability
▫ Public
Transportation
▫ Access (people with
disabilities, elderly)
Who are potential partners to work on
solutions to these issues?
• Think about:
▫ Stakeholders
▫ Champions
▫ Health Partners
What tools can you use to find
solutions to these issues?
How can you create long-term
solutions to these issues in your
community?