COMMUNITY ACTIVITY ENVIRONMENT
ENACT STRATEGY: Complete Streets
Complete the sidewalks and streets to support walking and biking in all communities
A network of safe and well-designed sidewalks and streets can facilitate physical activity in the form of walking and biking. Most streets are incomplete—designed with only automobiles in mind. Complete streets reclaim the roads for users of all ages and abilities including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and motorists by incorporating infrastructure such as wide sidewalks, medians, bike lanes, lighting, plants, and inviting destinations. A complete streets policy seeks to ensure that roadways are planned, constructed, and maintained and/or rehabilitated for all modes of transportation and pedestrians. Every transportation project should improve access, convenience, and safety for all users.
Characteristics of walkable and bikeable communities
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Development of a roadway to serve all users
- Curb ramps
- Separate bike lanes
- Safe street crossings
- Well-lit paths and crosswalks
- Traffic calming techniques
The Economic Benefits of Walkable Communities
Created by Local Government Commission, this fact sheet highlights the “solid connections between walkable environments and economic viability.”
Complete Streets Promote Good Health
This fact sheet summarizes research on how incomplete streets restrict physical activity and complete streets make active living easy.
Healthy Community Design: Success Stories from State and Local Leaders
This report profiles policy changes and programming efforts that support community design that provides more opportunity for people to be active in their daily routines.
Eat Smart, Move More... North Carolina -- Creating Active Community Environments (ACEs) is a program to increase opportunities for North Carolina residents to be physically active. ACEs also provides a Policy Guide for public health practioners and their partners.
The article “Master Plan Sets Goals for Caldwell County's Pathways“ (PDF) describes a successful improvement in bikeability and walkability in a North Carolina community. The Community Change Chronicles is a newsletter distributed by Eat Smart, Move More... North Carolina.
Isanti County Active Living: Progress of Year 1 Activities
This report describes the successful efforts of rural Isanti County, Minnesota, in promoting active living through the development of walking and biking infrastructure and programs.
Elements of Complete Streets Policies
The National Complete Streets Coalition provides a concise description of elements for an effective complete streets policy.
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center provides information about various road and walkway designs to increase walking and biking. The site provides definitions of environmental design elements that can be used to write model policy.
- Walkability Checklist (PDF): This tool aims to help community members rate a local walk, and identify any problem areas.
- Bikeability Checklist (PDF): This tool helps individuals assess the ease of bicycling in a community by rating a bike ride and noting any problems encountered.
The Physical Activity for Youth Policy Initiative (PDF) provides a means for advocates and policymakers to address the issue of physical inactivity. This paper focuses on different priority areas, including community design, to discuss rationale, recommended policy options, and policies in action.
This chart lists existing complete streets policies at the city, county, state, and federal level. A short description and weblink is included for each policy.
Marin County Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan
The master plan seeks to decrease traffic congestion, vehicle exhaust emissions, noise and generally make the streets safe for cyclists and pedestrians.
City of Oakland: Pedestrian Master Plan
The overall goal of this plan is to promote a pedestrian-friendly environment. It focuses on improvements in public spaces, including streets and off-street paths, to become more convenient, safe, and attractive. This plan encourages and rewards the choice to walk.
City of Portland Pedestrian Master Plan
This master plan is a guide to pedestrian policies, projects and priorities for the city of Portland. It emphasizes project planning, design and construction as a priority area to most effectively change the walking environment.
in the ENACT Local Policy Database
National Complete the Streets Coalition
The National Complete the Streets Coalition works to enact complete streets policies across the country. The campaign goal is to help with the adoption and implementation of 5 statewide and 25 regional or local complete streets policies by 2008.
National Center for Bicycling and Walking
“The National Center for Bicycling& Walking (NCBW) is the major program of the Bicycle Federation of America, Inc. (BFA), a national, nonprofit [501(c)(3)]corporation established in 1977. Our mission is to create bicycle-friendly and walkable communities. [T]he NCBW works with local, state, and national bicycle, pedestrian, and transportation advocates to bring about changes in government policies, programs, and procedures to help create more bicycle friendly and walkable communities.”
California Bicycle Coalition
“The California Bicycle Coalition is creating a new cycling culture in California communities by harnessing public and private resources to make our streets and trails good places to ride, to educate bicyclists and motorists regarding their respective rights and responsibilities, and to promote competent bicycling as a safe, clean, fun and healthy means of transportation and recreation.”
Oakland Pedestrian Safety Project
“The OPSP promotes pedestrian safety and access in Oakland, California. Based on the three “E's“ of education, enforcement, and engineering, we work with city agencies and community-based organizations to develop comprehensive solutions to pedestrian problems through coalition-building and community outreach.”
Active Living Leadership
“Active Living Leadership is a National Initiative supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, developed to support government leaders as they create and promote policies, programs and places that enable active living to improve the health, well-being and vitality of communities.”
"A national program that establishes and evaluates innovative approaches to increase physical activity through community design, public policies and communications strategies.”
Local Government Commission
“The Local Government Commission (LGC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization that provides
inspiration, technical assistance, and networking to local elected officials and other dedicated community
leaders who are working to create healthy, walkable, and resource-efficient communities.”
Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center
"The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) is a national clearinghouse for information about health and safety, engineering, advocacy, education, enforcement, access, and mobility for pedestrians (including transit users) and bicyclists. The PBIC serves anyone interested in pedestrian and bicycle issues, including planners, engineers, private citizens, advocates, educators, police enforcement, and the health community."
Land Use and Transportation Policy Impacts Physical Activity
This study found that residents of communities that were conducive to physical activity (e.g., mixed-land use, walkability, and bikeability) were more likely to participate in leisure and transportation-related physical activity.
Aytur, S.A., Rodriguez, D.A., Evenson, K.R., Catellier, D.J., and Rosamond, W.D.. Promoting Active Community Environments Through Land Use and Transportation Planning. Am J of Health Promotion. 2007 March/April; 21 (4): 397-407.
New Yorkers in Pedestrian-Friendly Areas Have Lower BMIs (PDF)**
This study found that New York City Residents who live in densely populated areas near public transportation and mixed-use developments have lower BMIs than other New Yorkers.
Rundle, A., et al. The Urban Built Environment and Obesity in New York City: A Multilevel Analysis American Journal of Health Promotion. 2007 March/April; 21 (14), Supplement: 326.
Safe Walking and Cycling Improve Public Health
This article proposes various safety measures to encourage walking and bicycling. The Netherlands and Germany are discussed as valuable examples of cities that have successfully implemented policies to encourage these activities and lessen automobile dependence while reducing associated injuries.
Pucher, J and Dijkstra, L. Promoting safe walking and cycling to improve public health: lessons from The Netherlands and Germany. Am J Public Health. 2003 Sept; 93 (9): 1509-16.
** We can only provide links to the article abstracts and not the full text.
