Transition Brockville archive
Tag : Walking (17)
Chief Public Health Officer / 26 October 2017
Without being aware of it, our neighbourhoods and how they are built influence how healthy we are.
I chose designing healthy living as the topic for my first report as Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer because of the tremendous potential that changing our built environment has for helping Canadians live healthier lives.
Chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease are the leading causes of death in Canada. It is alarming that in 2011, almost 2.7 million or 1 in 10 Canadians 20 years and older were living with diabetes. Rising rates of type II diabetes can be considered a red flag for poor health as they are associated with higher rates of other diseases and conditions and linked to an unhealthy diet, low physical activity and higher rates of overweight and obesity. Rates of type II diabetes and other chronic diseases in Canada could be reduced by seamlessly integrating healthy living into our daily lives which can be achieved, in part, by designing and redesigning our communities.
[ FULL ARTICLE ]
Green Communities Canada / 17 April 2017
The City of Kingston has been designated as a 2016 Bronze Walk Friendly Community. This medium-sized city has done an impressive job of promoting walking and walkability and in engaging its citizens to increase walking rates. A large number of Kingston’s residents live close to their workplaces, providing a huge opportunity to increase the number of walkers. Kingston has consistently done well in the Commuter Challenge, and in 2016 recorded the highest participation rate in Ontario. The city has laid a great foundation for increasing walking through a variety of initiatives, plans and actions, including its stated vision of building “A Smart and Livable 21st Century City”, with an emphasis on active transportation as the guiding theme for all future municipal projects.
[ FULL ARTICLE ]
Brockville Active Mobility Matters / Alan Medcalf / 04 April 2017
In a unanimous vote today, the Committee of the Whole of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville passed the following motion:
THAT the Committee of the Whole recommends consideration of paved shoulders in its award of the 2017 County Road 2 contract for the reconstruction of part of the road between Johnstown and Cardinal; and
THAT staff prepare a full financial analysis of paved shoulders in the upcoming update of the Counties’ Asset Management Plan.
If followed through, this would bring Leeds Grenville on par with jurisdictions regionally and further afield who have recognized the cost savings and myriad other benefits of paving shoulders on rural roads.
[ FULL ARTICLE ]
Active Brockville / Alan Medcalf / 10 February 2017
Brockville’s project to extend the Brock Trail through the 401 corridor and extend the Trail from Laurier north to Centennial is receiving a $175,000 grant from the federal government.
The grant is part of the Ontario allotment of the $3.4 billion Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF), intended to support transit and active transportation projects. The project received $325,000 under the Ontario Municipal Cycling Infrastructure Program last year (read here).
[ FULL ARTICLE ]
TVO / The Agenda in the Summer / 22 July 2016
Mundane mode of transportation or mind-expanding journey, walking is one of humanity’s simplest accomplishments. From walking with police on the beat in Philadelphia, to hiking with war veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, Ottawa-based editor and writer Dan Rubinstein explores the transformative properties involved in travelling by foot. The Agenda in the Summer welcomes Rubinstein to take a stroll through the health and societal benefits of walking in his book, “Born to Walk: The Transformative Power of a Pedestrian Act.”
Active Brockville / Alan Medcalf / 27 February 2016
Much research has been done for the health and learning benefits of walking or cycling to school. It’s also shown that a significant “rush hour” traffic load is comprised of people driving kids to school, most often very short distances. Yet recently published research delves into the question of how harmful vehicle emissions are for young minds.
The study “found that this improvement [cognitive development] followed different trajectories depending on whether a school was located in an area with high or low levels of traffic-related pollutants such as elemental carbon, nitrogen dioxide, and ultrafine particle matter.”
[ FULL ARTICLE ]
Without being aware of it, our neighbourhoods and how they are built influence how healthy we are.
