This report highlights how levels of physical activity differ by state. It also points out how states compare to each other in regards to environmental and policy strategies used to encourage physical activity. Things like: policy guidance on shared use agreements at the state level;
having access to parks, recreation centers, and sidewalks
living within 1/2 mile of a park;
increasing time spent doing moderate-vigorous physical activity;
requiring recess; and
getting kids to walk and bike to school are all recommended as ways to increase levels of physical activity. Access the full report ...
Residents living in the diverse community of Lonsdale in Knoxville, Tennessee, now have a safe place to walk and play thanks to the Knox County Health Department and local community organizations. On July 26, 2014, partners including Lonsdale United For Change, a Latino Task Force of Lonsdale Volunteers, the Knox County Health Department and the Grace Baptist Church, hosted a celebratory event to inaugurate the new one-mile path, which connects Lonsdale Elementary, Lonsdale Park, Sam E. Hill School, and a few other nearby playgrounds. According to a November 2013, Knoxville Neighborhood Advisory news bulletin community members painted the new L-shaped path, in order to promote walking and better health in the community. The news bulletin says that walking feet along with a ...
The East Bay Regional Park District, in partnership with the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland and the Regional Parks Foundation (RPF), is bringing residents living in the San Francisco Bay area park prescriptions, through the Healthy Parks, Healthy People initiative. According to a July-August 2014 East Bay Regional Park newsletter, the partnership took shape in late 2013, when the groups came together to discuss a way to improve the health of children living in the East Bay area. The goal was to find the "best way to weave nature into the clinical experience," according to the regional park's newsletter. In addition to connecting patients to the outdoors through park prescriptions, the RPF is providing transportation for patients from clinics to parks. The RPF ...
Members of the US Conference of Mayors, a non-partisan organization of mayors who reside over cities with a population of greater than 30,000, adopted a resolution in support of parks and outdoor recreation, during a June 2014 annual meeting. The resolution asks Congress to support the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Urban Parks and Recreation Recovery (UPARR) program, in order to protect green space in America's urban areas. Those who signed the resolution urged all mayors to "raise awareness of the of the need for greater public and private investment in parks and green space to create healthy, walkable and sustainable cities." The document also speaks in support of protecting parks as a way to tackle childhood obesity. According to the text, children who ...
Kids in the predominantly Latino community of East Harlem (El Barrio) were in great need of physical activity programing and safe places to play. Alex Sabater and Deborah Quinones wanted to change that so they teamed up to create Young Bucks Sports, a non-profit aimed at preventing childhood obesity through teaching the sport and tradition of stickball to youth. Now Young Bucks Sports offers multiple activities to youth in Harlem for free, including: a summer stickball institute, pop-up playgrounds, a march to prevent obesity, and an annual festival with activities aimed at preventing obesity in the community.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: Alex Sabater loves stickball and loves to share the same with others in New York City (NYC). The game, which is especially popular among Latinos, is a ...
Residents living in West Denver recently agreed to move forward with plans to bring Denver's Re-imagine Play project to Paco Sanchez Park---a park that's located between council districts 1 and 3. This is exciting news for two reasons: (1) most park investments have occurred on the east side of the city; (2) this park would provide a modern, multi-generational green space for a community in need of updated parks. The Re-imagine Play project was originally envisioned for Denver's largest regional park, City Park. However, plans were stalled after neighborhood residents raised several concerns. According to a Denver Post news article, Denver City Councilman Paul Lopez (District 3) encouraged the Parks and Recreation department to consider bringing the park to West Denver. The ...
The city of El Paso is resurrecting its streetcar/trolley system, thanks to $97 million in state funds approved by the Texas Transportation Commission during a June 2014 meeting. After 30 years of shutting down its trolley system, local residents and tourists can soon look forward to having enhanced options for public transportation. According to an article from the El Paso Times, the process of developing plans for the streetcar system began in May 2012, when the city approved plans for an engineering and environmental assessment. This along with a design plan for the streetcars allowed the city to apply for state funds. Now two years later, the city will have the means to move forward with the trolley project. The El Paso Times reports that city council representatives ...
According to the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national non-profit dedicated to conserving land for public, San Antonio ranks low when it comes to park access. A report released by the TPL found that out of the 60 largest cities in the nation, that San Antonio ranked 53rd, according to the methods it used to measure park acreage, access, service and investment. According to Peter Harnik, director of the Center for City Park Excellence, San Antonio's biggest problem is not park acreage, but rather access to parks. “For San Antonio, about 35 percent can walk within a half-mile to a park,” Harnik said in a San Antonio Express-News article. Alternatively, the city has 24,622 acres of parkland, many hike and bike trails throughout the city, and a Missions Reach ...
A total of $43 million from an offshore oil and gas royalty fund will be allocated towards recreation and conservation projects---like parks---throughout the nation. The announcement was made during a July 8, 2014 meeting, at Gateway Park in Fort Worth Texas, where Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, accompanied by Fort Worth's Mayor Betsy Price, spoke of the need to reauthorize federal funding for open space projects like trails, parks, playgrounds, greenways and urban wildlife refuges. In an article from the Washington Post, Price, who is the co-chair of the City Parks Alliance's Mayors for Parks Coalition---a group of mayors who champion the cause of urban parks and open spaces, said: "As we’re growing in density with people returning to urban centers, it’s critical that ...
