Main Street Disaster and Resilience Toolkit
This publication is designed to help Main Streets and commercial district organizations better prepare for and respond to more frequent and severe disasters.
Marion, IA © Uptown Marion
“Everyone should have access to spaces and places that make it safe and easy for us to walk…Walkable communities are good for social connectedness, good for business, good for the environment, and, most importantly, good for our personal health.”
Active, Accessible, and Social
The design of our streets can have profound impacts on public health outcomes. Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization shows that a person’s physical environment (i.e. the place a person lives and the streets they use to get around) has a greater impact on their overall health than biology, behaviors, or healthcare. The way streets are designed affects access to healthy food, green environments, healthcare services, and to the social opportunities that connect us with other people in the community. Street design also impacts our ability to choose active modes of transportation, like walking and biking.
Being the central hub and connector for a downtown, Main Street can offer the opportunity for residents to access these health-related resources, services, and activities. In this position, Main Streets can play an important role in fostering a culture of health, both directly and by example.
Car-oriented streets can have negative impacts on health, including:
- Physical inactivity
- Lack of access to healthy food
- Limited healthcare access
- Social isolation
- Air, light, and noise pollution
- Avoidable traffic-related injuries and deaths
Streets designed and planned for the needs of all people can have positive health outcomes, including:
- Expanded participation in physical activity
- Increased access to healthy foods
- Preventative healthcare at every stage of life
- Community culture of health
- Supported mental health
Resources
- Active Living Research
- , Mallory and Wigand, Lynn (Portland State University) — A Review of Literature: The Mental Health Benefits of Walking and Bicycling
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- The Center for Urban Design and Mental Health — How Urban Design can Impact Mental Health
- Changelab Solutions — From Start to Finish: Health in All Policies
- Chapman, Daniel and Perry, Geraldine (Preventing Chronic Disease) — Depression as a Major Component of Public Health for Older Adults
- Daigneau, Elizabeth (Governing Magazine) — Blinded by Light Pollution
- Dannenberg, Andrew and Sener, Ipek (Transportation Research Board TR News) — Why Public Health and Transportation Setting the Stage
- Frank, Lawrence, et al. (American Journal of Preventive Medicine) — Obesity relationships with community design, physical activity, and time spent in cars
- Gehl Institute — Inclusive Healthy Places
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — Traffic Safety Facts Research Note
- Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion — Access to Health Services
- Project for Public Spaces — The Case for Healthy Places
- The Public Health Institute — Health in All Policies: A Guide for State and Local Government
- Pucher, John and Buehler, Ralph — City Cycling
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — About a Culture of Health
- Urban Land Institute — Healthy Corridors
- World Health Organization — Social Determinants of Health
- YMCA — Healthier Community Guide
Have a resource you’d like to add? Please fill out this form.
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