Oral

Dan Burden, Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin, will present his work on walkability and active living in 2,500 towns and cities. Known as the Johnny Appleseed of walking audits, Burden will provide a fresh perspective and insight into our changing demographics, our shaken economies and other major living instabilities and uncertainties. Participants will “walk” through how building to the future involves a much older, classic, more sustainable scale and economy. This scale and economy is based on the human foot. This scale and plan will rescue neighborhood after neighborhood, town after town, and region after region. Eleanore Smith with “Concrete Change,” will discuss negative public health impacts of typical new home construction. Positive, affordable alternatives brought about through the Visitability movement will be identified, including alternatives already in place in several locales. Smith will define Visitability, compare it to Universal Design, and give a brief overview of the history, accomplishments and challenges. As the baby boomer generation approaches retirement age, both citizens and professional planners alike are being challenged to advocate for and create safe and walkable communities that enhance livability for the country's aging population. Renee Espiau, Project for Public Spaces, will discuss the fundamentals of how to engage transportation agencies and understand the technical and regulatory process that shape transportation decision-making. Paul Nathanson, JD, National Senior Citizens Law Center and Tony DeLucia, PhD, of the James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University will be the discussants. This is an invited session of the Healthy communities for Healthy Aging Forum.

Session Objectives: Learn about the complexity of town making. Compare how towns built for people, not cars, are the ones with the healthiest people and economies. Determine how transit, reduced auto dependency, independent living, healthy neighborhoods for greater social exchange, greater diversity, and the other notions of active, healthy lifestyles come about. Define Visitability and compare it to Universal Design. Discuss how citizens can engage their transportation agencies to advocate for more livable streets and communities.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)