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Community Design
Fact Sheet
January 19, 2014
Calles Seguras Para Peatones (Streets that are Safe for Pedestrians) and Salud y Diseño Urbano (Health and Community Design) are part of a packet that includes the following:
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This project was funded through an environmental justice grant from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Project support was provided by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG).
Pedestrian deaths account for more than 20% of all traffic-related fatalities in California each year.
More than 600 people are killed and another 13,000 are injured every year as pedestrians in California.
Being hit by a car while walking is the 2nd leading cause of death for California children aged 5-12. Nearly 5,000 child pedestrians are injured annually.
The ability for people to walk to get to destinations has diminished significantly in recent decades. Today, in
most communities, we need a car to get around. This is largely due to the design of communities that focus on allowing cars – not people – to get around. The irony is that by emphasizing motor vehicle transportation we’ve ended up creating more congested roadways that are unsafe for all users, including motorists.
Wide streets, poorly designed streets and intersections, lack of sidewalks and poor connectivity have resulted in physical environments that are dangerous to pedestrians.
These conditions further discourage people from walking. When people do venture out to walk on these streets, they often face high-speed traffic and dangerous conditions that result in high rates of pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
In California, pedestrian deaths account for more than 20% of all traffic-related fatalities each year, according to a Surface Transportation Policy Project report.
A variety of solutions can be implemented in our cities to prevent pedestrian injuries. Some can range from community programs started at the grassroots level to citywide policies adopted by local governments to encourage new developments that pedestrian-friendly community design including streets that are safe for people to walk on.
Below is a list of community programs and local government policies that your community can use to encourage residents to walk and reduce pedestrian injuries and fatalities:
70% of adults do not get the recommended 30 minutes of daily physical activity.
Diabetes has increased by 67% among California adults – which is linked to a dramatic rise in physical inactivity in adults.
How we shape growth in California is crucial to making our communities healthier, safer and more livable. An important measure of livability is how physically active and healthy people are.
Walkable, bicycle-friendly communities provide opportunities for regular physical activity – which is important in preventing chronic health problems and improving quality of life.
According to a study by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, diabetes has increased by 67% among California adults, which is linked to a dramatic rise in obesity and physical inactivity in adults.
Current land use patterns, such as large-lot or strip development, lack of through streets or walkways, dead
wall space, lack of crosswalks, long blocks, unappealing walks, wide and unshaded streets, wide streets with no medians, and large auto-oriented uses all inhibit walking.
Good community design is one of the ways that we can encourage more Californians to be physically active. Healthy communities provide a physical environment that allows residents to incorporate physical activity into their daily life.
Below is a list of recommendations that you can work with suggest to your local elected officials to implement:
On residential streets with low traffic speeds and volumes, it is often possible for bicyclists to ride on the street. However, on streets with higher volumes and traffic speeds it is necessary to provide a bicycle lane.
Trails that support bicycling, rollerblading and walking in residential neighborhoods are a great way for families to get around.
Ideally, all schools should be accessible through local trails.
To encourage people to ride their bicycles, infrastructure, including bicycle parking, lockers and, at workplaces, lockers and showers is needed.
For residents to bicycle to work and other regional destinations, consider ways to provide a larger network of trails that link up key destinations.