Connect with us
WalkSanDiego
740 13th Street, Suite 502
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619.544.9255
Fax: 619.531.9255
WalkSanDiego will feature Dr. Tracy Delaney at its next “Visioning San Diego Lunch Forum” on January 20, 2012. Dr. Delaney serves as the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency’s Manager of Chronic Disease and Health Disparities. She also served as the Principal Investigator for a grant proposal to the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) program that brought more than $16 million to the County to fight obesity.
Dr. Delaney will provide an overview and report on the accomplishments of the CPPW program, which is locally called Healthy Works. Its purpose is to improve the health and well-being of local residents by making broad-based systems and environmental changes.
As a promoter of walking and walkable communities, WalkSanDiego has long been a proponent of the link between active transportation and improved health. Said Executive Director Jim Stone, “The focus of our programs in local schools is to encourage walking and biking to school. Getting kids active is one tool that can be used to fight childhood obesity. We’re even getting parents to walk with their children, so the whole family can benefit. Plus it reduces traffic and air pollution.”
During her talk, Dr. Delaney will also present information on a Community Transformation Grant that was recently awarded to the County by the Centers for Disease Control. The grant will provide an additional $3 million for health-related programs in San Diego County to help create healthier communities and halt the spiraling health care costs of preventable chronic diseases.
The forum, which takes place at the Downtown Information Center at Horton Plaza, begins at noon. Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door. Lunch is provided. Call 619.544.9255 for reservations.
WalkSanDiego is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the livability of communities through promotion, education, and advocacy, by making walking a safe and viable choice for all people.
###
WalkSanDiego and local businessman Joe LaCava will lead a walk through La Jolla’s Bird Rock downtown at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, December 17 as part of the organization’s ongoing series of historic walks in neighborhoods around the region. The walk will highlight the area’s rich history: from the early 1900s to the recent construction of multiple roundabouts that have helped to boost local businesses.
Once a stop on the city’s trolley line, the area has always been a popular destination given the network of restaurants nestled near the coastline and stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. Today, nearly 100 businesses and restaurants call the area home. In 2005, after years of community outreach and complaints about high speed, unsafe traffic, major improvements were constructed as the four-lane boulevard was converted to a landscaped two-lane road with multiple roundabouts. The transformation not only made the district a pedestrian-friendly and inviting place to stroll and enjoy a cup of coffee, it also led to boosted sales tax revenues for the local businesses. According to a WalkSanDiego analysis, sales tax revenues among 95 businesses rose 25% in 2006 following completion of the improvements.
Come see the improvements yourself. Meet WalkSanDiego in front of Starbucks at the intersection of La Jolla Boulevard and Forward Street December 17 at 9:00 a.m. The walk is free for WalkSanDiego Members and there is a suggested $5 donation for non-members. Contact Dave Schumacher at dsc@sandag.org for further details or to reserve a space.
WalkSanDiego is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the livability of communities through promotion, education, and advocacy, by making walking a safe and viable choice for all people.
####
Walking To a Safer, Healthier Future
Printed in Opinions page, Union Tribune, November 26, (2011. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/26/walking-to-a-safer-healthier-future/)
You talk to some adults about walking to school and they get downright nostalgic. The thought racing through their minds is that the experience of walking represents a time gone past. Truth is, a generation ago 50% of kids walked to school. Today that number has decreased to less than 12%. Further, parents driving their kids to school account for up to 30% of morning traffic. Sadly, many parents are understandably concerned that it is unsafe for their children to walk or bike to school. San Diego, for example, was recently ranked the 5th most dangerous metropolitan area in the U.S. for pedestrians.
Last month, hundreds of thousands of students, parents and communities representing more than 3,700 schools across America participated in national Walk to School Day. WalkSanDiego was involved with 11 of these schools and upwards of 2,000 kids through the national Safe Routes to School program active in San Diego.
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) was established by the U.S. Congress in 2005 due to growing concern of the long-term health and traffic issues facing the country’s schools and towns. The program provides money to cities, counties and regions to improve infrastructure and help local schools encourage their students and families to walk and bike to school. In San Diego, communities across the region use this funding to construct new bike lanes, pathways, and sidewalks, as well as to launch Safe Routes to School education, promotion and enforcement campaigns in K-8 schools.
Research suggests the national program has been successful. Against a backdrop of reduced walking and biking to school, an evaluation of California sites where new crosswalks or sidewalks were installed showed that kids were more likely to increase walking or biking to school compared to areas without improvements. Surveys of 1244 parents at 10 schools in Marin County found a 64% increase in the number of children walking to school and a 114% increase in the number of children bicycling to school.
Do California’s children need to be healthier? The consensus is yes because the reality is troubling. The rate of U.S. childhood obesity has tripled (coincidentally, walking is only one-third what it was) since the 1970s, and a third of American children are now overweight or obese. Developing awareness is an important step, but immediate solutions are needed to reverse this trend. Enter again, Safe Routes to School.
Since its inception in 2005, Caltrans has awarded $156 million for 356 SRTS projects. For 2012, a total of $66 million to 139 projects statewide have been awarded, including almost $5 million in San Diego County. These funds will go towards education programs and the construction of physical improvements to our roads, which improve safety for our kids, encourage more of them to walk or bike to school, help to reduce troubling health trends, and provide good construction jobs. And it is not just children who benefit. The street improvements make neighborhoods and cities better and safer for all ages.
At this moment, the federal transportation bill is moving through the U.S. Senate. The House is planning to review the bill in December. Safe Routes to School and other biking and walking programs are slated to experience a 30% decrease in addition to being thrown into a pot of money to compete with other types of transportation projects. Yet these active transportation projects are absolutely critical to our nation’s health, and our children’s healthy future in particular.
"Our research shows that parents' concerns about traffic is the biggest barrier to walking to school. SRTS deals directly with that problem and produces additional benefits for the whole community. This is a sensible way to give people the option of safely walking more rather than driving," says Dr. James Sallis, Professor of Psychology at SDSU and Director of the Active Living Research program. Even though these are tough budget times, SRTS is an investment that pays off by reducing injuries, childhood obesity, air pollution, and traffic congestion. Let's give our children the chance to build memories of safely walking to school.
Jim Stone, Executive Director, WalkSanDiego
Downtown Walkability Plan for City of Oceanside to be Presented
For Immediate Release (November 3, 2011) CONTACT : Cynthia Offenhauer, 619-544-9255
WalkSanDiego lunch forum to feature plans for Oceanside walkability project.
San Diego—WalkSanDiego will feature David DiPierro, City Traffic Engineer, and Kathy Baker, Redevelopment Manager from the City of Oceanside, as guest speakers for its next Visioning San Diego Lunch Forum Friday, November 18, 2011. The event will take place at noon in Encinitas’ City Center, 505 S. Vulcan Avenue, Poinsettia Room.
Following up on a 2002 ‘Walkable Communities’ study, the City of Oceanside is poised to complete significant improvements along Mission Avenue just east of Coast Highway that will entice people to shop and dine downtown by increasing the area’s walkability.
The concept plan for the proposed improvements, approved by Oceanside City Council last winter, will link parking and public transit to downtown activity centers, increase pedestrian activity, improve pedestrian access and safety, and make the downtown more attractive for pedestrians. The project has been shepherded through a robust community participation process and various groups of decision makers through a partnership between the City’s Redevelopment Agency and Transportation Department.
Pending a General Plan Amendment, slated improvements for the seven blocks of Mission Avenue will transform the currently four-lane two-way street into a two-lane one-way segment while making room for bicyclists, angled parking, bulb-outs, and greatly enhanced sidewalks. According to Ms. Baker, ‘We have been working to come up with a "plan" for Mission Avenue for more than ten years. Public workshops for the project were packed with downtown merchants urging Council to please go forward with the plan NOW. They recognize it will provide much needed enhancements to the streets and improve business activity, especially restaurants.’
WalkSanDiego is highlighting the effort to promote the concept of Complete Streets, or streets designed for all users. According to WalkSanDiego’s Executive Director, “The proposed improvements in Oceanside’s Mission Avenue provide a great example of departments working together to improve pedestrian safety while also improving the community’s health and business.” Further, the project provides an example for the San Diego region of a road diet for other cities to emulate. Road diets have proven to be successful in improving bike and pedestrian safety while maintaining traffic flow.
WalkSanDiego is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the livability of communities through promotion, education, and advocacy, by making walking a safe and viable choice for all people. The venue is accessible by the Coaster.
# # #
Imperial Beach Schools Strive to Increase Walking
For immediate release (October 18, 2011)
CONTACT : Juan Ramirez, Program Coordinator, 619.255.0244, jaramirez@walksandiego.org
Imperial Beach students, parents and teachers to participate in National Walk to School Month activities to promote walking and biking to school.
San Diego —As part of October National Walk to School Month, four Imperial Beach schools will be participating in various Safe Routes to School events.
All four schools will be holding a Walk to School Celebration where parents and students are encouraged to walk together to school. Central, West View, and Oneonta Elementary Schools’ celebrations will be held on October 19th, VIP Preschool’s will be on October 21st. The school community is invited to join the celebration by walking with their students to school.
Parents, staff, and neighbors of Central and West View Elementary and VIP Preschool will also participate in Safe Routes to School workshops to be held immediately after their Walk to School Celebrations. Conducted by the nonprofit walk advocacy organization, WalkSanDiego, the focus of each workshop is to establish more walkable neighborhoods. Residents will learn what can be done to create a safer walking and biking community, including traffic calming enhancements and improved pedestrian features such as raised crosswalks. Participants will then be asked to give recommendations on what they would like to see done to remove barriers that interfere with walking and biking to school. Recommendations from each workshop will be compiled and presented to the City of Imperial Beach Public Works department (Public Works Department Director will be present as well as Sheriff Department representation) to help leverage future funding for infrastructure improvements.
The workshops are sponsored by the City of Imperial Beach, South Bay Union School District and WalkSanDiego, and are funded through the California Department of Transportation.
Refreshments will be provided to participants. For more information or to reserve a seat, contact Juan Ramirez at 619-544-9255.
The details for Walk to School Month activities are as follows:
Central Elementary – Pedestrian Safety Workshop and Walk to School Celebration – Wednesday October 19th - Parents and students are invited to walk to school – Workshop held at 8:00 – 10:00am in the Auditorium
West View Elementary – Pedestrian Safety Workshop and Walk to School Celebration – Wednesday October 19th – Parents and students are invited to walk to school – Workshop held at 8:15 – 10:00 am in the Cafeteria
Oneonta Elementary – Walk to School Celebration – Wednesday October 19th – Parents and students are invited to walk to school and to the Halloween Parade – 8:30 am
VIP Preschool – Pedestrian Safety Workshop and Walk to School Celebration – Friday October 21st – Parents and students are invited to walk to school – Workshops held in the Family Center at 9:30 – 11:00am and 1:10 – 2:40pm
# # #
For more information about WalkSanDiego visit www.walksandiego.org or contact Juan Ramirez at jaramirez@walksandiego.org.
CONTACT: Cynthia Offenhauer at 619.544.9255, offenhauer@walksandiego.org
WalkSanDiego’s Visioning San Diego Lunch Forum to feature new alliance that will review and endorse transit-oriented development projects throughout the region.
San Diego (August 29, 2011)—WalkSanDiego will feature Elyse Lowe, Executive Director of Move San Diego, as the guest speaker for its next Visioning San Diego Lunch Forum on September 16, 2011. Ms. Lowe will announce the beginning of The MOVE Alliance, a new program recently formed by Move San Diego to review, recognize and endorse well designed development projects in the San Diego region that enhance residents’ transportation options and provide for more sustainable growth. The goal of the MOVE Alliance is to “Support projects that create Mobility Options Viable for Everyone.”
According to Lowe, “The MOVE Alliance brings together experts in environment, community planning, urban design, transportation and housing development willing to publicly support a newly emerging paradigm that aligns transit, jobs, housing and other community resources in a way that gives people more options, enhances their lives, and ensures the growth of our region is sustainable.”
During her presentation, she will discuss who the MOVE alliance partners are, what an endorsement from the alliance means, and the process by which endorsements will be granted.
WalkSanDiego Executive Director Jim Stone says, “SANDAG predicts our region will experience a population increase of 40% and add more than 380,000 housing units over the next 40 years. This endorsement program will help policy makers and the general public recognize the attributes of a commendable transit-oriented development project. This is incredibly important to ensure projected growth is accomplished in a way that does not negatively impact our quality of life in San Diego.”
WalkSanDiego is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the livability of communities through promotion, education, and advocacy, by making walking a safe and viable choice for all people.
The forum, which takes place at the Downtown Information Center at Horton Plaza, begins at noon.
# # #
For more information about WalkSanDiego or the Visioning San Diego Lunch Forum call 619.544.9255 or visit www.walksandiego.org.
WalkSanDiego
740 13th Street, Suite 502
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619.544.9255
Fax: 619.531.9255