Addressing obesity by organizing communities around walkability, health and safety issues

Eliminating inequalities in accessing healthy and safe environments is critical when addressing obesity issues. “Walkability” is a neighborhood indicator increasingly being promoted by public health and urban planning professionals as one way to address obesity issues in communities. LiveWell Commerce City, Colorado (LWCC) is addressing obesity in part by organizing community residents around active living issues and having them assess the walkability of their neighborhoods. Over a 2-year period, walkability assessments were utilized as a means to organize 6 ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the metro-Denver area. After receiving a brief training on using the assessments, community residents (N=194) assessed segments of their community to identify strengths and problem areas related to walkability. The findings indicate that many residents currently walk to areas in the community. However, the overall ability to do this safely and in a pleasant environment is hindered by heavy traffic, lack of sidewalks or striped crosswalks, or traffic signals. Based on the walkability study findings, residents have developed a coalition to address these and other related issues in their community and worked to inform policy makers in order to make walking safer and promote active living. The purpose of this presentation is to: 1) highlight the process of conducting a walkability assessment and its role in community organizing, 2) present the findings of a walkability study as it relates to community health and safety, and 3) discuss how the findings were utilized to inform local planning policies.