Built Environment and Active Living
The Built Environment and Active Living team works to increase and improve opportunities for physical activity with a focus on bicycle and pedestrian safety. This is accomplished through a focus on a healthy community design; the development and improvement of neighborhoods that improve the quality of life for all people who live, work, worship, learn, and play within their borders. Such an approach allows each person to make choices amid a variety of healthy, available, accessible, and affordable options.
Healthy Community Design
Public Health works with the City of Charlotte and other municipalities to ensure that comprehensive land use policies and built environment standards are regulated across the County. We focus on providing all residents, no matter their age or ability, with equitable access to a network of safe active transportation choices such as sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and transit options.
We also partner with community members seeking changes in their built environment by connecting them with municipal resources, technical knowledge, and street safety recommendations. Making permanent changes to street designs can be an expensive and lengthy, but community placemaking efforts and small-scale interventions can be cost-effective and quickly implemented.
Healthy Community Design can improve people's health by:
Increasing physical activity
Reducing injury
Increasing access to healthy food
Improving air and water quality
Minimizing the effects of climate change
Decreasing mental health stresses
Strengthening the social fabric of a community
Providing fair access to livelihood, education, and resources