Link Between Driving and Obesity

Image Credit: GOOD.is

The great people at GOOD recently posted a great graphic full of good information. Indeed, they did.

The graphic allows you to see the linkage between the way people travel and the obesity rates, by state. In short, the states that appear lighter in color have a greater percentage of people that travel via foot, bike, and public transit. The states that are dark blue rely heavily on cars for transportation.

Visit GOOD's site to zoom in and explore!

Arch Ground Design Concepts Unveiled!

Photo Caption: The Framing a Modern Masterpiece competition to re-design the St. Louis Arch and surrounding area just unveiled the five design concepts. The above design comes from the Behnisch Architekten team.

For the last series of months, five international design teams have been developing their visions for enhancing the St. Louis Arch grounds and adjacent area, including both sides of the Mississippi River. The five design concepts were unveiled to the public earlier this week. You can view them on the Framing a Modern Masterpiece website or in person at the Arch Visitors' Center located below the Arch.

The public comment period is only open through this Monday, August 23rd. Since this project will invariably transform St. Louis, we strongly encourage you to take the time to view the proposed designs and share your feedback with the competition coordinators. As you look through the designs, we encourage you to look for connectivity, walkable and bikeable environments, human-scale design (the creation of spaces and places that feel inviting, safe, and enjoyable), and designs that strengthen St. Louis's relationship with our natural and cultural heritage.

A local coalition called City to River has been strongly advocating that the designs reconnect the downtown to the Arch by removing the section of I-70 that currently divides the two. Once the New Mississippi River Bridge is built to the north of the existing MLK Bridge, that section of I-70 will be redundant, serving more as an obstacle than an asset to St. Louis. City to River has a series of renderings on their website that illustrate their vision.

The following are additional images submitted by the five design teams. To see the full designs, visit the Framing a Modern Masterpiece website. To provide your comments, visit the National Park Service comment form for the competition.

Photo Caption: The Weiss/Manfredi team envisions converting dead space beneath the highways as space for active recreation.

Photo Caption: Re-design of the actual Arch grounds presented by the Van Valkenburgh team

Livable St. Louis Network to take bus of regional leaders to Pro Walk/Pro Bike 2010

Flickr Photo Credit: tandemracer

Livable St. Louis Network (LSLN) partners are bringing 30 regional leaders to attend the 2010 Pro Walk / Pro Bike Conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee. LSLN has provided scholarships and Great Rivers Greenway has provided free travel on a charter bus to create the opportunity for our leaders to move our St. Louis livability agenda forward.

We know that Pro Walk/Pro Bike can catalyze change for our region because that's what happened in 2008--Trailnet brought regional leaders to the conference and it lead to the passage of the City of Ferguson and City of St. Louis Complete Streets policies. Read the full story in "Pro Walk/Pro Bike Attendee Spotlight: St. Louis is sending a bus!"

Want to ride with us? There's still room on the bus! Contact Cindy Mense at cindy@trailnet.org or 314.436.1324 x113 for more info.

Want to know more about the Livable St. Louis Network? The Livable St. Louis Network works to catalyze partnerships to enhance the capacity to adopt model transportation and land use policies to remove barriers and open avenues for creating livable communities. It accomplishes this by leveraging resources to provide professional development, technical assistance, and avenues for new and expanded partnerships.

St. Louis University School of Public Health funds LSLN; Trailnet is the lead partner.

For more information about LSLN, contact Cindy Mense. Her contact information is above.

Tour and Taste of Ferguson

Caption: The Old Ferguson West Community Garden is just one of the gorgeous gardens on the Tour

Trailnet's community partners in the City of Ferguson are hosting an upcoming event that combines two things we love: riding bikes and local/organic produce. The City of Ferguson is rapidly becoming an innovator in the movement to create healthy, active & vibrant communities. Their recent successes include Ferguson Sunday Parkways events, their inaugural Live Well 5K that attracted nearly 900 people, adoption of a Complete Streets policy, urban farming and community garden ordinances, and more.

See what all the excitement is about this Sunday:

Tour and Taste of Ferguson
Sunday, August 22, 1 - 4pm

The Ferguson Cycling Club in partnership with EarthDance is hosting their inaugural Tour and Taste of Ferguson this coming Sunday afternoon, August 22, 1-4pm. Join the group for an easy bike ride around lovely Ferguson. The tour will visit community gardens, resident gardens, and finish at the historic Mueller Organic Farm (the oldest organic farm in the region!). You'll have the opportunity to "taste" local produce at each stop along the way.

The ride will be a total of 10 miles and move at an easy pace along quiet neighborhood streets. The ride will begin at the Plaza at 501, located at 501 S. Florissant Road in Ferguson.

If you plan to attend or have questions, please send an email to Gerry Noll:
grnoll@sbcglobal.net

For additional info on the ride, including a helmet-cam video of part of the route, visit the following websites:

Ferguson Cycling Club
Helmet-Cam Video made by the one and only Gerry Noll
NOCO, The online magazine of North County

F as in Fat - 2010

Caption: THE annual report on obesity in America. The 2010 report focuses considerable attention on the link between city design and health.

The announcement from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation goes like this:

"The country’s obesity epidemic continues to worsen, as detailed in F as in Fat 2010: How the Obesity Crisis Threatens America’s Future. Adult obesity rates climbed in 28 states during the past year and now exceed 25 percent in more than two-thirds of the states, with rates higher among Blacks and Latinos.

The report, by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), discusses how the nation’s response has yet to fully match the magnitude of the problem. At the same time, it highlights public recognition of the issue and acute concern over the prevalence of childhood obesity.

A survey commissioned by RWJF and TFAH found that eight in 10 voters believe childhood obesity is a serious problem—a viewpoint that transcends all demographic boundaries. More than half of voters say that a comprehensive program to combat childhood obesity is worth the financial investment, even if the program would sharply increase government spending.

The report suggests ways to ensure that the disease-prevention measures in the new health reform law are implemented most strategically to help prevent and reduce obesity. Other recommendations include expanding the commitment to community-based prevention programs and sustaining investments in research and evaluation."

The following announcement comes from the fine folks at Re-Connecting America:

"The report contains the latest data on adult and child obesity rates in America, as well as policy recommendations for local, regional, state, and federal officials to help combat the obesity epidemic.

While the majority of recommendations focus on nutrition and physical activity, the report devotes significant attention to the link between the built environment and health, and calls for programs and policies that increase walking, bicycling, and the use of public transportation. Under "Increasing Access to, Availability and Affordability of Physical Activity," (p. 83), it lists "Support mixed-use development and locate businesses, recreation centers, parks, libraries and other facilities near public transportation" as a strategy. There are also recommendations specific to the next transportation reauthorization bill on page 96, including "mass transit and pedestrian/bicycle infrastructure should be enhanced because they help reduce harmful vehicle emissions and promote physical activity" and "all major transit projects should assess their impact on health." The report also contains a good summary of current federal legislation that can potentially promote active transportation and expand funding for mass transit and transit-oriented development."