Get Active, Spokane!

In 2007, The Lands Council, with funding from the Spokane Regional Health District, facilitated a year-long, dynamic, and collaborative environmental health assessment process. A multi-stakeholder team consisting of government agencies, business, industry, neighborhood groups, non-profits, academic institutions, health care providers, and local citizens met monthly and used the PACE-EH methodology to identify, research, rank, and prioritize top environmental health concerns in Spokane County. One of the issues receiving the highest number of votes was how the "built environment" (i.e. human-made buildings and infrastructure) affects people's health. Click here for the Spokane County Environmental Health Assessment Team EHAT 2007 Final Report.

The "built environment" consists of the following elements: land use and development (including urban forests), buildings and facilities (including water and wastewater treatment), transportation infrastructure (and associated impacts on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions), mobility (transit, bicycle, and pedestrian), "green" building, energy efficiency, re-use and recycling, and food access/production; and related impacts on human health and the natural environment. The image of our built environment is strongly related to sustainability. Sustainability grows from
principles of conservation and stewardship. A sustainable built environment minimizes the use of resources and protects natural ecosystems. How we design our built environment has direct and indirect impacts on things like water quality and quantity, urban forests and parks, air pollution, climate change, and human health.

A 2-year EPA CARE (Community Action for a Renewed Environment) grant awarded to The Lands Council in October, 2007 allowed us to work towards building sustainable, collaborative, problem-solving community partnerships to enhance people's physical health by working to improve our community's built environment. Our efforts focused on promoting active transportation (e.g. walking and biking) in an effort to decrease automobile pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard air quality, build community, and enhance the overall quality of life in Spokane.

A grant from the Bullitt Foundation allows us to continue this important work. In conjunction with our partners (YMCA of the Inland NW, Spokane Regional Health District, Spokane Regional Transportation Council, Futurewise, City of Spokane, Spokane County Commute Trip Reduction, Spokane Transit Authority, and Bicycle Advisory Board), we have been part of a Complete Streets coalition of local advocates that are developing a Complete Streets policy for Spokane.  Complete Streets policies direct planners and engineers to design roadways with ALL users in mind, including pedestrians, bicyclists, seniors, the disabled, children, and transit riders of all ages and abilities.  Crosswalks, sidewalks, street trees, transit stop amenities, median islands, and bike facilities are all features of Complete Streets.  By encouraging active transportation, Complete Streets decrease the prevalence and severity of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes; reduce carbon emissions and address climate change and oil dependence; improve safety; build community; and make economic sense.

On December 19th, 2011, the Spokane City Council voted 5-2 in favor of a Complete Streets Ordinance!  This ordinance will ensure that every time the City does a a major street repair, it includes all planned facilities in the project. So, for example, when the City does a major re-pave of a street, it has to build everything that the Comprehensive Plan requires instead of laying down new asphalt without re-painting crosswalks, repairing sidewalks, and putting in required wheelchair ramps. It also means that if the project affects an area that is identified as appropriate for bike lanes or pedestrian improvements in the Bicycle or Pedestrian Master Plan, those things would need to be included in the repair project unless financially unfeasible (for example, if it adds more than 20% to project costs).

Stay tuned for our 2012 activities!  For more information about Complete Streets, click here.

In other "Get Active, Spokane!" activities, we proudly made Spokane history in helping to put on our city's 1st Annual Summer Parkways event in 2010!  Spokane has now officially joined the ranks of other cities throughout the nation and world in closing some of its streets to motorized vehicles for a portion of a day in favor of walking, biking, rolling, and other forms of active, human-powered transportation. 

We conducted a rapid health impact assessment (HIA) of the pedestrian strategy of the multi-modal transportation portion of the Fast Forward Spokane: Downtown Plan Update - click here to read a summary of our rapid HIA findings.  We also worked with residents to conduct a walkability audit of the West Central neighborhood and conducted a second walkability audit of North Monroe St. - click here to view a report of our findings.

Want to get involved or learn more? Contact Kat Hall at khall@landscouncil.org, 509-209-2403