PLACE Program
3530 Wilshire Blvd, 8th Floor,
Los Angeles, CA
90010
(213) 351-7825
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The built environment is made up of all the places we
live, work, and play. It includes our streets, parks,
schools, workplaces, homes, and public space. From
temporary, short-term, active events like CicLAvia to
long-range policies that ensure that all residents can
safely and comfortably use public streets, there are a
wide range of possibilities for changing how people
interact with and are affected by the built environment.
Here you’ll find links to the innovative work that
organizations in California and around the country have
done to improve health through changes to the built
environment.
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Health
Language in Transportation Policies
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has
published
“Recommendations for Improving Health Through
Transportation Policy”
in recognition of the impact that transportation systems
have on health and quality of life. This document
outlines innovative policies and programs that protect
and promote health while accomplishing transportation
objectives. The recommendations include policies that
improve air quality, reduce injuries, and/or promote
physical activity through transportation.
The Changelab Solutions report,
“Healthy Planning Policies - A Compendium from
California General Plans,” offers insight into some
of the strategies that cities have employed to
incorporate health into land use and transpiration
policies.
“How to Create and
Implement Healthy General Plans: A
Toolkit for Building Healthy, Vibrant Communities”
describes the possibilities available for improving
health through the general plan process. It includes
model language and standards for creating and
implementing plans like those in the Compendium above.
Active
Living by Design offers a variety of resources,
including webinars and case studies of promising
practices in healthy planning. Their
Resources page is particularly useful for
highlighting resources available for anyone interested
in lessons learned, growing a movement and advancing
active transportation.
Safe
Routes to School Resources
The PLACE program developed “Let’s
Walk to School Together! A Walking School Bus Training
Manual” as a resource for adult volunteers
interested in starting a Walking School Bus program at
their school. A Walking School Bus is an
adult-supervised group walk to and/or from school. The
goal of the program is to encourage students to walk to
school, and is one of many possible Safe Routes to
School programs. The Training Manual outlines key phases
of a Walking School Bus program’s development and
provides
customizable templates that can help
kick-start the program. In addition, a
flyer (English and
Spanish )is available to
help recruit volunteers for the program.
Safety Tips for Pedestrians, Bicyclists, and Motorists
The PLACE program compiled safety tips for people
walking,
adult cyclists, and
children cyclists.
The Automobile Association of America (AAA) has compiled
safe driving resources and additional resources for
older adult drivers.
Healthcare providers are encouraged to discuss safe roadway behaviors
and distribute these tips to their patients to build awareness of
traffic safety. Since pedestrians and bicyclists are disproportionately
impacted in fatal and severe injury traffic collisions, alerting
patients to the importance of safe walking, bicycling, and scooting is
critical. To learn more about safely using e-scooters, please visit: http://dcba.lacounty.gov/eridesafety/
Model Design Manual for Living Streets
This manual focuses on all users and all modes, seeking
to achieve balanced street design that accommodates cars
while ensuring that pedestrians, cyclists and transit
users can travel safely and comfortably. Download the
PDF version Model Design Manual for Living Streets or an
editable MS Word version
here.
Cities may use this manual in any way that helps them
update their current practices, including adopting the
entire manual, adopting certain chapters in full or
part, modifying or customizing chapters to suit each
city’s needs.
Download PDF version Model Design Manual for Living
Streets or editable MS Word version
from the dedicated page for this manual here.
Estimating Cost to Build Pedestrian and Bicycle
Infrastructure in the SCAG Region
Every four years the Southern California
Association of Governments (SCAG) updates the Regional
Transportation Plan (RTP). The RTP is a long-range
(25-year) transportation plan for the Southern
California and it has the potential to reduce air
pollution, increase the walkability and bikeability of
cities in the region, and expand the public transit
system.
In 2012, to support SCAG’s efforts in making difficult
resource allocation decisions, the Los Angeles County
Department of Public Health estimated the cost of
creating pedestrian and bicycle improvements throughout
the SCAG region. The
accompanying document provides the calculations and
assumptions used in our draft analysis. There are three
components to the analysis: bicycle costs; pedestrian
costs; and bicycle and pedestrian costs in Transit
Oriented Districts (TODs). We estimate a range from $37
billion to $59 billion over the 25-year period.
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Additional Resources
Organizations and Websites to Know
Here you’ll find links to outstanding
organizations that have experience
promoting, implementing, and evaluating
policies that support healthier built
environments in Los Angeles County and
California. This link also includes
websites that offer insight into the
news and opinion of the urban planning
and public health communities.
Articles and Reports
This page contains links to articles and
reports about exciting research at the
intersection of health and the built
environment. Recent reports about active
transportation demonstrate the value of
changing the built environment to
improve health. Case studies showcase
the progress that local governments have
made in this area.
Data Sources
These links include official reports and
data sets that offer insight into health
outcomes and transportation patterns in
Los Angeles County, the state of
California, and the nation.
Funding Opportunities
Several organizations and governmental
departments at the state and national
levels offer funding for the development
and/or implementation of active living
policies and plans.
Navigating LA on Bike,
Foot, & Transit
Learn more about how to get around Los Angeles County by
bicycling, walking, and public transit.
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