
TulsaNow — Designing a Healthier City
It’s no secret that Tulsa has health problems. 63% of us are overweight or obese (with al full 1/3 of children falling in to this category). According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, less than half of Tulsa County’s population meets basic physical activity requirements (that’s fancy talk for: we don’t exercise). In 2014 our state ranked 46th in the nation in overall health.
70% of obese youth have a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and Type II diabetes. So being overweight, and not exercising, means we are more sick. And being sick, costs the government, and our employers, more money: the annual cost to Oklahoma in medical bills, worker’s compensation benefits, and lost productivity exceeds $853 million. Tulsa’s own Dr. Gerry Clancy spoke of these issues at last year’s Sidewalk Summit, hosted by the Accessible Transit Coalition.
The Prescription
Dr. Clancy also spoke of a solution; a prescription if you will, for the ailing health of our citizens. The answer he gave had to do with our built environment. What does this mean? The built environment is made up of the structures that we, humans, create. We transform the natural environment to our purposes: we build houses and schools, hospitals, churches and retail shops, and streets, sidewalks, and other transportation infrastructure to connect all those things together, getting us from place to place and city to city. The way we build these things, the way they are designed, has either a positive or a negative impact on our health. This is what organizations such as the Prevention Institute, the American Public Health Association, and others, have noticed: When we have policies in place to build active and healthy communities, we get better health outcomes.
Better Design
Today we’re joining the Tulsa County Wellness Partnership in support of a recommendation to our city leaders that the city adopt a resolution that considers health in all policies. Health in All Policies is a collaborative approach to improving the health of all people by incorporating health considerations into decision-making across sectors and policy areas. For land-use and transportation policies, this means:
- More sidewalks and increased connectivity
- More support of Public Transit
- Highlighting the importance of Parks and Greenspace
- Improvements in bike / Pedestrian infrastructure and Complete Streets
If these four things sound familiar, it’s because we at TulsaNow have been advocating for them since we formed our organization in 2001.
When we have policies in place to build active and healthy communities, we get better health outcomes.
We’re fond of standing at podiums and making sweeping rhetorical ivory-tower statements about the importance of the built environment. Hand-in-hand with the Wellness Partnership we can also say that when we make these changes in the way our city is built, it means not only happier urbanists, but healthier Tulsans.
…but Can this Work in Oklahoma?
It already is. Here in Tulsa, we have the policies in place that will support the design and building of a better city:
- We are in the process of completing the zoning code changes which support our new comprehensive plan (PlaniTulsa).
- We are also in the process of completing our bike / pedestrian master plan.
- We have already adopted a Complete Streets policy.
- Our Fast Forward transit plan was approved by the voters last year.
So we’re on the right track. What else do we need? Nothing more than to enforce the laws that are and will be in the books. Are we doing that? Well, time will tell. One current area of concern is 61st & Peoria, where the mayor stated: “We are looking down every possible avenue for answers to how this situation can be improved in this area of the city.” and the Tulsa City Council launched a Quality of Life taskforce in 2012. Today the city engineering plans call for widening of Peoria Ave. in this neighborhood, which would be a grave concern for both health and safety outcomes.
A narrower, more pedestrian- and bike-friendly area would be a much better design. What are the results? Listen below to the story of Mick Cornett, Mayor of OKC and the decisions he made for the design of his city. By 2012, Oklahoma City residents lost a collective million pounds, which removed them from the obese rankings and placed the city as America’s 22nd most fittest:
Originally published at tulsanow.org.
