Last month, a group of around 500 people and I participated in a webinar covering the launch of the fearlessly groundbreaking Walking Towards Justice Series. It was organized by America Walks and moderated by Charles Brown, Senior Researcher with the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center. The first episode of the series addressed race and residential […]
The American Public Health Association (APHA) declared 2017 the Year of Climate Change and Health. And, fittingly, September was designated Extreme Weather Month. As Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina are beginning the long recovery from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, 140 wildfires are consuming two million acres of land in California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, […]
At America Walks, we know that the benefits of walking extend well beyond health. Everything from familial relationships and community engagement to local economies and environments improve when communities are walkable. America Walks has supported local walking champions for twenty years, helping to create safe, accessible, and enjoyable places to walk and be physically active […]
Everyone should have the opportunity to walk, bike, and be physically active in their community. When we talk about barriers to walking and biking, we often think about elements of the physical environment that make walking and biking dangerous, like speeding cars, missing sidewalks and bike paths, and unsafe street crossings. There are also other […]
The US Surgeon General’s 2015 report Step It Up! The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Walking and Walkable Communities notes that just 22 minutes a day of physical activity such as brisk walking may improve your health. The report goes on to recommend creating desirable destinations, such as parks, that are close to […]
In September 2015, United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy launched Step It Up! The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Walking and Walkable Communities. The Call to Action urges Americans to be more physically active through walking or rolling to the best of their abilities and for communities from across the US to […]
“Tony Comes Home” by William Massey is one of the many BeltLine art installments. Massey called on the community to help him gather found objects that make up this magnificent work of art. I just returned from Atlanta after participating in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) second annual Walkability Action Institute, which […]
As a member of Active Living By Design’s (ALBD’s) inaugural National Advisory Committee (NAC) from 2002-2005, Dan Burden helped us understand what it takes to create activity-friendly communities for everyone. Over the years, Dan has collaborated with residents, policy makers and practitioners in more than 3,500 communities across the world. And today, he is Director […]
If you’ve read our blog recently, or if you’ve been paying attention to healthy communities media streams in our world, you know about a renewed national push to increase walking and walkability. In that push, I hear a stronger voice for health equity. Simply put, equity is about fairness. Not all neighborhoods are created equal; […]
Last week, the U.S. Surgeon General called on our nation to better support walking and walkability as a fundamental health strategy. Speakers noted that walking is a basic human right and a civil rights issue. I strongly agree, having been with advocates in poverty-stricken neighborhoods as they described how their children have to cross dangerous […]