Real-World Examples
ShareCompartir
The chart below shows several real-world examples of combined built environment approaches. These examples illustrate how activity-friendly routes have been linked with everyday destinations in communities across the nation. Examples range from very simple, small-scale, low-cost built environment changes to more complex, large-scale, resource-intensive changes spanning entire communities. The green arrow to the left of the chart depicts this range to offer every community ideas for how it can start implementing combined approaches according to their setting, budget, and scale of work.
View text version
| Activity-Friendly Routes | Everyday Destinations | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real-World Example | Street Pattern Design and Connectivity | Pedestrian Infrastructure | Bicycle Infrastructure | Public Transit Infrastructure and Access | Mixed Land Use | Increased Residential Density | Proximity to Community Destinations | Parks and Rec Facility Access | |
| The city of El Paso, TX created a walking route between the Union Plaza District and the Downtown Arts District. These destinations of cultural and economic activity were previously divided by a locked parking lot that prohibited public and pedestrian access. | |||||||||
| A neighborhood in St. Louis, MO reduced average vehicle speed by using traffic calming techniques in a busy area served by four bus stops. This improved access to buses during the day, which connected residents to community destinations. | |||||||||
| In Weslaco, TX, students, school officials, and the city public works department partnered to paint a new crosswalk to connect the school to the community and the surrounding neighborhood. | |||||||||
| In Los Angeles, CA, the Watts neighborhood designed a visitor’s center at the train station in a historic building along with a network of walking paths with public art to promote pedestrian traffic between the metrorail public transit stop and cultural sites. | |||||||||
| With the mayor, more than 100 community volunteers in Cuba, NM constructed or improved 9.5 miles of trails with landscaping including shade trees, benches, parking areas, and signage. Each trail attracts different users—two trails connect the village to the Santa Fe National Forest. | |||||||||
| The city of Hernando, MS obtained grant funding to revitalize an old road connecting the middle and high schools that had been blocked off for years. This new pathway opened a safe route to school and allows more residents to use a newly surfaced track. | |||||||||
| In Atlanta, GA, the BeltLine is converting abandoned railway into a combination of trails, parks, light rail transit, high-density residential buildings, and commercial development. Expected to eventually cover 22 miles of pathway, the BeltLine will connect 45 neighborhoods and Atlanta’s council districts. | |||||||||
| To improve public access to the waterfront in Houghton, MI, this remote city in the Upper Peninsula gradually acquired a stretch of shoreline property and replaced industrial ruins with parks, marinas, and paved bicycle/pedestrian trails which now connect the city center to parks and residential districts. | |||||||||
For more information about the Community Preventive Services Task Force recommendation, visit www.thecommunityguide.org/findings/physical-activity-built-environment-approaches and www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/community-strategies
- Page last reviewed: November 7, 2018
- Page last updated: November 7, 2018
- Content source: