Public Health
Streetsblog LA
Westside Urban Forum Tackles “Healthy Communities”
What is a healthy community? And what role does the built environment play in creating a healthy community?
September 21, 2015
Some Thoughts on Near Roadway Air Pollution and L.A.’s Future
I attended a forum event yesterday, entitled "The Collision of Best Intentions: Public Health, Smart Growth, and Land Use Planning." Speakers focused on "NRAP" - an acronym I wasn't familiar with. NRAP stands for Near Roadway Air Pollution. It's the study of pollution risks near freeways and other high-volume roads.
April 10, 2014
L.A. Kicks Off Citywide Plan Forums, Additional Forums Coming to Your Area
This past Saturday in Granada Hills, Streetsblog L.A. attended the first of seven planning forums hosted by the city of Los Angeles' Department of City Planning (DCP.)
March 17, 2014
Introducing L.A.’s Proposed Health and Wellness Plan, What It Isn’t and Is
The city of Los Angeles Department of City Planning is kicking off a series of seven community planning forums starting this Saturday, March 15th, and running through April 12th. They're at various locations from Granada Hills to San Pedro. The forums are for public feedback on three citywide planning processes: re:code L.A., Mobility Plan 2035, and Plan for a Healthy Los Angeles. This week, Streetsblog will preview each of the citywide initiatives. First off, it's the city's new health plan.
March 11, 2014
What Should Doctors Do to Prevent Traffic Deaths?
When cars first became a common presence in American cities, doctors were shocked by the carnage. In 1925, editors of the New England Journal of Medicine called the bloodshed caused by motorists "appalling" and lamented children's loss of life as "a massacre of the innocent." The sense of urgency was still detectable a few decades later. In a 1957 report, Harvard researchers called the public health threat posed by automobiles a “mass disease of epidemic proportions.”
January 13, 2014
Public Safety Committee Acknowledges the Hit and Run Crisis, LAPD Not So Much.
In Los Angeles, according to LAPD crime statistics for 2011, 1273 cyclists and pedestrians were victims of hit and run crimes. In other words every single day, 3 or 4 cyclists and pedestrians become hit and run victims within Los Angeles city limits. Of these, 26 people walking or biking died as a result of the collision in which a motorist fled the scene. Another 10 victims were killed while in cars.
August 2, 2013
Zoning a Healthier Los Angeles?
(editor's note: When I saw L.A. County was being praised for updating its zoning code to encourage wider sidewalks and bicycling facilities, I went to some zoning experts to ask them to weigh in on the county's proposal. Occidental College Professor Mark Vallianatos answered my call. - DN)
February 22, 2013
BNSF Falsely Claims Marginalized Communities “Better Off” with Proposed Railyard; Public Hearing Tonight
In a sadly misunderstood and ill-grounded editorial, the Press-Telegram endorsed Burlington Northern Santa Fe's (BNSF) proposed 153-acre railyard project west of the 710 freeway, the Southern California International Gateway (SCIG). The endorsement comes right before a public hearing featuring demonstrations from some 20 community organizations who will offer evidence denouncing the benefits of the project as well as proposals for a new site.
October 18, 2012
Spring Into Health this Weekend at a Family Festival at Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center
"Celebrate Health!" is the main message of the the Spring Into Health Festival that will be held this weekend at Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
March 30, 2012
A Food Desert By Any Other Name
What is the real story behind food deserts? New research from the Public Policy Institute of California comes to the same conclusion that researchers from the California Center for Public Health Advocacy came to five years ago. I guess the confirmation of these findings is cause for a low calorie celebration. Or perhaps a victory lap around the Staples Center, (LA’s official monument to Coca Cola).
March 27, 2012