Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Public Health

How Road Planners Fail Neighborhoods

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 4, 2014 | No Comments

Why do neighborhood groups — especially in low-income areas — have such a hard time influencing the design of major road projects? An interesting case study from the University of Colorado-Denver sheds some light. To examine the barriers to incorporating public health principles into transportation planning, researchers studied the Allied-Dunn’s Marsh neighborhood in Madison, Wisconsin, a disadvantaged but […]

More Walking and Biking, Better Health: New Evidence From American Cities

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 17, 2014 | No Comments

New data from the Alliance for Biking and Walking’s 2014 Benchmarking report bears out the notion that people tend to be healthier in cities where walking and biking are more prevalent. The Alliance compiled active commuting rates in the 50 largest American cities as measured by the U.S. Census. Then it compared that data with health information […]

Poor NYC Neighborhoods “Less Conducive to Walking” Than They Appear

By Stephen Miller | Feb 12, 2014 | 1 Comment

A fact sheet [PDF] released by the city’s health department today makes the case that New York City’s walkability contributes to the health of residents — but a deeper look into the research shows that not all New Yorkers are benefitting equally from walkable neighborhoods. The brief draws on recent data from two sources: Research […]

What Sets Apart the Places Where People Walk More?

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 6, 2014 | No Comments

A lot of research has shown a link between living in a walkable community, active transportation habits, and better health outcomes. But what aspects of “walkability” are tied to better health? Is it the mix of uses, the connected street grid, the density of housing, or all of the above? It’s an important question to […]

For One Reckless Driving Survivor, “Life Looks a Lot Different Than Before”

By Brad Aaron | Jan 14, 2014 | 7 Comments

Traffic fatality numbers usually get the headlines, but as a measure of how safe or dangerous it is to walk and bike, injuries are the more stable metric. Since 2003, according to state DMV data, an average of just under 14,000 people were injured by motorists while walking and biking in the city each year. Of […]

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