Healthy Community Design
Updated May 2005
Land Use
The built environment--that is, the street layout, zoning, recreation facilities, parks and location of public buildings among other design elements -- are all components of a community that can either encourage or discourage active living. Communities can be designed with a pedestrian focus and provide opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to engage in routine physical activity. Land use policies and programs that support active living can include: mixed-use development; transit-oriented development; brownfield redevelopment; urban infill; parks, recreation and trails; and school siting.
Mixed used development is a strategy that authorizes local governments to use their planning and zoning authority to site appropriate residential, retail, office and educational facilities within close proximity to each other to encourage walking and biking as a routine part of everyday life.
This type of development includes bus and rail options in the transportation component of a local government's comprehensive plan. It gives residents and commuters more opportunities to combine biking and walking with other means of getting to work, school or shopping centers. Public transit does not replace walking or biking, but integrates them into the transportation mix.
Brownfields are typically abandoned or underused commercial and industrial properties that contain some contamination that may affect their future constructive use. They are usually found in cities and inner ring suburbs, but rural areas may also contain sites. Once cleaned up to acceptable environmental standards--the property's future use will determine the necessary cleanup level--brownfields can become viable economic development centers, attracting growth that may otherwise spill out onto the urban-rural fringe.
For more information on brownfields, please go to: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/environ/brownfields/brownfields.htm
In an effort to encourage downtown revitalization and dissuade sprawl, urban infill and redevelopment legislation provides dual incentives for local governments to designate areas within which building incentives will be offered and for developers to design mixed use projects within designated areas. Incentives often include alternative revenue raising authority for local governments to finance redevelopment, and waiver of fees and taxes, along with expedited permitting, for developers. The resulting compact communities can encourage walking and biking opportunities to jobs, schools and shopping centers.
Greenways are corridors of protected open space managed for conservation and recreation purposes. Greenways often follow natural land or water features, and link nature reserves, parks, cultural features and historic sites with each other and with populated areas. Greenways can be publicly or privately owned and some are the result of public/private partnerships. Trails are paths used for walking, bicycling, horseback riding or other forms of recreation or transportation.
Rail-trails are multi-purpose public paths created from former railroad corridors. Flat or following a gentle grade, they traverse urban, suburban and rural America. Ideal for many uses, such as bicycling, walking, inline skating, cross-country skiing, equestrian and wheelchair use, rail-trails are extremely popular as recreation and transportation corridors. Since the 1960s, 12,650 miles of rail-trails have been created across the country.
Parks, Recreation and Trails Resources
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
An organization working to create a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places.
Designing for Active Recreation
This fact sheet from Active Living Research provides a synopsis of the current state of research into what makes an "activity-friendly" environment for recreational physical activity.
In conjunction with the initiative to make it easier for students to bike and walk to school, efforts are being made to locate schools within neighborhoods instead of creating campuses on outlying and undeveloped land, far from where the students live. Distant campuses do not provide students the option of biking and walking to school. Conversely, schools that are located in the center of neighborhoods not only provide students the option of biking or walking to school, but they also can provide recreation facilities for community use.
No matter what the location -- urban, suburban, or rural -- schools can be sited in ways that create healthy places for children to learn and grow. School siting considerations that affect children's health include:
- safe walking and bicycling routes, which affect opportunities for physical activity;
- play spaces and sport facilities that also influence opportunities for physical activity;
- transportation requirements that affect ambient air quality; and
- ability to access and utilize healthy foods.
While school and land use decisions are ultimately local decisions, many states are involved because residents' health, economic development, and environmental quality are affected by it and the staff may provide capital funds for school construction. The state roles in school siting include:
School Siting Resources
Smart Growth and Schools
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has a page with numerous resources on school siting, including a report from the E.P.A. and the Council of Educational Facility Planners International.
Of Sprawl Schools and Small Schools
An article from the National Association of Realtors Web site.
New Schools for Older Neighborhoods
A publication produced by the Local Government Commission.
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