Cities all across the US and the globe recently celebrated Parking Day--an initiative that aims to get people to experience what a temporarily transformed public space might look like. During Parking day, which occurs every third Friday in September, communities build temporary parklets (small spaces on streets or sidewalks that resemble parks). Parklets often feature bike racks, green turf, grass, trees, plants, park benches, tables, and sometimes even free games. The idea behind Parking Day is to inspire locals to explore the possibility of developing a more walkable & livable community with more pedestrian friendly streets. According to a blog from Streetsblog USA, this year communities who participated in Parking Day included: Providence, R.I.; Louisville, KY; ...
What would bike lanes look like if they were designed and built with the safety of a twelve year old girl in mind? Would you feel comfortable riding them? These are some of the questions that leaders at PeopleForBikes a national non-profit committed to making riding safer for everyone, asked themselves as they developed their latest campaign called: Build it for Isabella.
One of the main goals that People for Bikes strives for is to build bicycle infrastructure that anyone could use, not just your typical group of bike advocates.
The idea of the Build it for Isabella campaign is that if you build it for a twelve year old girl like Isabella, anyone can use it. That would mean that rather than rely on painted bike lanes and on sharing lanes with drivers, that communities would ...
A new KaBOOM! playground has just arrived to Marshall Meadows, an affordable housing community in San Antonio, Texas. With the help of 200 volunteers from Foresters, The Housing Community Services, Inc. and a team from KaBOOM!, kids living in and near Marshall Meadows now have a new place to play. Plans for the project started with a design day in June 2014, according to a news release. As part of the playground design process, children were asked to draw their dream playground. Designers used their drawings as inspiration for the new playscape. The playground is expected to serve more 25,000 children. "A community's well-being starts with a child's well-being," said Tony Garcia, president and CEO, of Foresters. "Playgrounds are important to communities, providing an ...
Plans for improvements to Elmendorf Park, located on the Westside of San Antonio---a predominantly Latino area that has been historically underserved---are in the works. More importantly, local residents have approved of the plans for the $14 million in added amenities to the 30-acre park. According to a San Antonio Express news article, improvements will include: new playground equipment, an upgraded pool, an adult exercise area, trails, fountains and additional parking. In the news article, Lourdes Galvan, a trustee of the San Antonio River Authority (SARA), said: “It's been a long ride, but this happened because of all of you.” She added, “this is a result of your input.” The renovations are scheduled to begin by December 2014 and the project is to be complete by ...
While some Latino families and kids lack access to parks and playgrounds, others face the additional challenge of locating playgrounds that are designed for children with disabilities in mind. Fortunately, new parks designed with accessible features like broad, flat ramps to get to the top of a play house, swings with highback chairs, and sand tables placed at the level of wheelchairs, can provide disabled children with a safe place to play, while enabling them to get the physical activity they need. According to a news article from NPR, in recent years, more individuals have become aware of the need to build what is termed "inclusive" or "accessible" playgrounds. So far 2505 playgrounds in 96 cities have been logged into NPR's new tool which lets users find and track accessible ...
Madison Alewel from NewsChannel 10 reports on how one school made big changes to bring healthy foods to students. When the USDA changed the meal standards for schools, they gave schools a few years to prepare and transition. The Amarillo Independent School District in Texas used that time to develop a resource that would not burden the district, but in turn save it money. The school district built their very own bakery to provide its 53 schools with whole grain bread, which is one of the new healthier requirements. The bread is made from scratch and served fresh to students on a daily basis. The AISD Bakery produces about one ton of dough each day, which ends up providing about 9,000 meals to local students. "We make loaf bread, hamburger, hot dog buns, rolls and hoagies," said ...
Residents of Westwood, one of Denver's predominantly Latino neighborhoods, celebrated the grand opening of a new park on Saturday, September 6, 2014. According to District 3 Councilman Paul Lopez's Facebook page the Cuatro Vientos-Four Winds Park is the first park to come to district 3 in nearly 30 years. Local residents, members of Westwood Unidos---a coalition that works to promote healthy living and bring healthy options to the Westwood neighborhood---and many other key stakeholders, gathered between 11am-3pm on Saturday to celebrate the occasion. According to the Westwood Unidos Facebook page, prior to the park opening, the community had less than 10% of the target acres of park per capita. In 2012, when the Colorado Health Foundation announced a request for ...
Kids attending Hart Elementary, a predominantly low-income school in Austin, TX, with 88% Latino students, can now enjoy daily bike rides thanks to a new protected bike lane and bridge that connect the school to a nearby residential area. According to a Peopleforbikes.org blog, the 1.1 mile stretch of protected lanes, which consists of a few poles and some paint, cost the city only $20,000 and took four days to install. In addition to the protected bike lanes, the school is participating in a pilot program, which will study the effects of the bike lanes and a new bike to school program, on learning and health outcomes. In a news article from the Austin Statesman, principal David Dean said: “I’m a believer that if we can promote this program and show that it can be fun but ...
What good is physical activity if you fuel up with junk food and sugary drinks? One leader in Arlington County, Va., realized that the absence of healthy drink and snack options at parks and public buildings was sending an unclear message to the community about the importance of proper nutrition for an active lifestyle. With overwhelming community support, he drove good-for-you options into vending machines in county-owned property and local schools, creating an environment that weaves both nutrition and physical activity into the fabric of neighborhood health.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: Families in Arlington County, Va., come from many different cultural backgrounds.
Among the county’s 16% Latino population, this diversity is apparent. “The Latino population is probably a bit ...
