James Rojas: How Latino Urbanism Is Changing Life in American Neighborhoods


James Rojas via Voyage LA

James Rojas loved how his childhood home brought family and neighbors together. The L.A. home had a big side yard facing the street where families celebrated birthdays and holidays. Uncles played poker. Aunts tended a garden. Children roamed freely. Mexican elders—with their sternness and house dresses—socialized with their American-born descendants—with their Beatles albums and mini-skirts. Rojas was shocked to find some would look down on this neighborhood. “Why do so many Latinos love their neighborhood so much if they are bad?” he wondered. Rojas, in grad school, learned that neighborhood planners focused far more on automobiles in their designs than they did on the human experience or Latino cultural influences. He wanted to change that. Rojas has spent ...

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Planners, Here’s How to Unlock Health Equity in Your Community


health equity planning from ChangeLab Solutions

Local planners have the power to help create healthy, fair communities. Unfortunately, common planning practices have contributed to the high percentage of poor people and people of color who live in unhealthy places, widening disparities in health and wealth. That's why our friends at ChangeLab Solutions created Long Range-Planning for Health, Equity & Prosperity: A Primer for Local Governments. This can help planners prioritize health and equity in their work. "By integrating health and equity considerations into planning practices, planners have the power to revise past planning decisions and create healthy, equitable, and prosperous communities," ChangeLab reports. Place Matters for Health Equity Where you live matters for your health. Inequitable city planning, ...

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En Español: The State of Latino Housing, Transportation, and Green Space


en espanol - housing transportation green spaces among latinos

Check out these new Spanish-language research materials on the alarming state of Latino housing, transportation, and green space from our team at Salud America! UT Health San Antonio. The new Spanish materials are based on an English research review earlier in 2019. The research found that, sadly, U.S. Latino communities face unaffordable housing, unreliable public transportation, and a lack of green space and parks. This limits Latinos’ access to health-promoting assets─medical care, good schools, healthy food, and physical activity. This also contributes to health inequities. Fortunately, community leaders can adopt dynamic land-use methods, public-private partnerships, and community involvement to build and revitalize Latino neighborhoods. This can create affordable ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 12/17: How to Plan for a Safer and More Active 2020


#SaludTues Tweetchat #SafeRoutes

Much of the disparity we see in traffic deaths and chronic disease is related to how we build roads and communities. Improving safety on our streets, sidewalks, and public spaces can help address decades of disparities. Let’s use #SaludTues on Dec. 17, 2019, to tweet about how you can take time at the end of 2019 to plan for a safer and more active 2020. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “How to Plan for a Safer and More Active 2020” TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019 WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: @SaludAmerica CO-HOSTS: America Walks (@americawalks); National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (@NADTCmobility); Safe Routes National Partnership (@SafeRoutesNow); National Complete Streets Coalition (@completestreets) OPTIONAL ...

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Salud Talks Podcast Episode Nine: “An Endangered Community”


Jose Luis Climate Salud Talks

Is your town quickly becoming unlivable? That's the case for Jose Luis Ortiz, a farmer and an environmental activist with the Los Jardines Institute. He describes how, despite what some might think, climate change is already destroying his home. Check out this discussion on the #SaludTalks Podcast, Episode Nine, "An Endangered Community"! WHAT: A #SaludTalks discussion on the current, real-time impacts of climate change GUESTS: Jose Luis Ortiz, an environmental activist with the Los Jardines Institute WHERE: Available wherever fine podcasts are downloaded, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Tune In, and others WHEN: The episode went live at 11 a.m., Nov. 6, 2019 In this episode, we explored questions such as: How is the climate crisis impacting ...

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5 Ways Everyone Can Promote Youth Sports Equity


youth sports equity soccer player girl

Youth sports are a great way to help kids get the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day. But only about half of U.S. kids participate on a youth sports team. Latinos or other racial/ethnic minorities, girls, rural, low-income, and/or youth with disabilities all have lower rates of both physical activity and youth sports participation, data show. For Latinos, cost and local access to places to play are big barriers to youth sports equity. Fortunately, the new federal National Youth Sports Strategy outlines opportunities for youth, adults, organizations, communities, and policymakers to improve youth sports equity. "[The strategy] aims to unify U.S. youth sports culture around a shared vision: that one day all youth will have the opportunity, motivation, and access ...

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New Play Streets Guide: How to Create Active Spaces for Rural Children


play streets in rural areas collage

Every kid needs physical activity and active spaces for healthy growth. But physical inactivity has increased 10% in rural and low-income communities, according to a new study. Rural children have higher risks for obesity than kids living in cities—and rural children of color are at the most risk. This is where Play Streets comes in. Play Streets are place-based interventions that temporarily close a public area to create safe places for physical activity. This engages kids and families, gets people active, and promotes community connections. Now researchers from Baylor University and Johns Hopkins University has released their Guide to Implementing Play Streets in Rural Communities. Using first-hand experience, the guide teaches local groups, ...

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Building for Holistic Health: Connecting to Nature


architecture Biophilia nature design

Feeling the sun’s rays, breathing in cool air, lying amongst the trees, standing in the rain — all ways of how nature can ground people and bring about feelings of joy. While it’s true that most Latinos and Americans might spend up to 90% of their time indoors, building design can give inhabitants a sense of connectivity to our environment, or biophilia. Construction workers and architects should make the most of nature to create health-centric structures, according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA). “Simply put, nature is good for us because we are part of nature,” writes Dr. Miles Richardson, director of core psychology programs at the University of Derby. “We are human animals evolved to make sense of the natural world, and this embeddedness in the ...

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Will Kansas City’s New Bike Lane Plan Save Lives, Grow the Local Economy?



Improving safe routes for people to bike can help cities reach their health, equity, economic, and climate change goals. Kansas City, Missouri (10.2% Latino), for example, can save 36 lives every year and increase local spending by $500 million if the city fully implements its bike plan over the next two decades, according to a new study from the University of Missouri Kansas City’s Department of Architecture, Urban Planning, and Design. Commissioned by Bike Walk Kansas City, researchers analyzed various social and economic benefits of the Kansas City Bicycle Master Plan. “This research confirms how essential a quality bike network is to so many city goals: safety, health, economic opportunity, and fiscal sustainability,” Bike Walk KC’s Director of Community Planning, ...

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