Community Design

Healthy community design means planning and designing communities that make it easier for people to live healthy lives. Healthy community design:
- Lowers vehicle dependence by building homes, businesses, schools, churches and parks closer together to encourage walking and biking
- Provides opportunities for people to be active and social closer to home, thereby improving physical and mental health
- Allows people to age in a community that reflects their changing lifestyles and physical capabilities
Community design elements are related to some of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States such as injuries, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and asthma. Healthy community design provides the following benefits:
- Promotes physical activity, thereby reducing adult and childhood obesity
- Improves air quality by lowering air pollution
- Lowers risk of injuries
- Reduces traffic injuries
- Increases social connection and sense of community
- Reduces contributions to climate change
Healthy community design includes a variety of principles:

Where you live matters to your health and many experts agree that zip code can be a better predictor of health than genetic code. Income, education, and health are intimately connected; residents in lower educated and
lower income zip codes are more likely to have heart disease, cancer and a lower life expectancy than those in zip codes with higher levels of education and income. For example, in some parts of the U.S., the life
expectancy of babies born to mothers in different neighborhoods within the same city can vary by as much as 25 years. However, everybody has the right to live the healthiest life possible, regardless of zip code.
Through a variety of efforts which include healthy community design, many community-related risk factors can be addressed and it is possible to create healthier communities where we can live, work and play.

- transit, like buses or trains
- sidewalks and bike paths
- stores that sell food, especially those stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables
- safe and energy efficient housing
- parks and public spaces
Because healthy community design is such an integrated effort amongst architects, city planners, and government officials, it is important to be a responsible and proactive citizen in regards to your health. You can help take action to promote a healthy community by:
- Attending community meetings where decisions are made about how land will be used
- Talking with elected officials
- Working for policy change
Resources
- EnviroAtlas home page - EnviroAtlas is a tool provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EnviroAtlas provides interactive resources for exploring the benefits people receive from nature, or "ecosystem goods and services." It uses seven broad categories to organize its information and data: clean air; clean and plentiful water; natural hazard mitigation; climate stabilization; recreation, culture, and aesthetics; food, fuel, and materials; and biodiversity conservation.
- Healthy Community Design Checklist
- Planning and Health Resource Guide for Designing and Building Healthy Neighborhoods
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Utah Geological Survey
- Greenhouse Gas Information - U.S. Energy Information Administration
Greenhouse Gases
Access to Parks and Elementary School
- Children Aged 5 to 9 Years Living Within a Half Mile of a Public Elementary School (Count) by County, Utah, 2010
- People Living Within a Half Mile of a Park (Count) by County, Utah, 2015
- Children Aged 5 to 9 Years Living Within a Half Mile of a Public Elementary School (Percentage) by County, Utah, 2010
- People Living Within a Half Mile of a Park (Percentage) by County, Utah, 2015
Commute Time
- Average One-Way (minutes for workers 16 years and older for all travel modes) by Year
- Average One-Way (minutes for workers 16 years and older for all travel modes) by County
- Number of Workers 16 Years and Older Driving 20+ Minutes to Work by Year
- Number of Workers 16 Years and Older Taking Public Transportation 45+ Minutes to Work by Year
- Number of Workers 16 Years and Older Taking Public Transportation 45+ Minutes to Work by County
- Number of Workers 16 Years and Older Walking 10+ Minutes to Work by Year
- Number of Workers 16 Years and Older Walking 10+ Minutes to Work by County
- Percentage of Workers 16 Years and Older Driving 20+ Minutes to Work by Year
- Percentage of Workers 16 Years and Older Driving 20+ Minutes to Work by County
- Percentage of Workers 16 Years and Older Taking Public Transportation 45+ Minutes to Work by Year
- Percentage of Workers 16 Years and Older Taking Public Transportation 45+ Minutes to Work by County
- Percentage of Workers 16 Years and Older Walking 10+ Minutes to Work by Year
- Percentage of Workers 16 Years and Older Walking 10+ Minutes to Work by County
Types of Transportation to Work
- Number of Workers 16 Years and Older by Year
- Number of Workers 16 Years and Older by County
- Percentage of Workers 16 Years and Older by Type of Transportation and Year
- Percentage of Workers 16 Years and Older That Used Active Transportation by County, Utah
- Percentage of Workers 16 Years and Older That Used Car, Truck, or Van by County, Utah
- Percentage of Workers 16 Years and Older That Worked at Home by County, Utah
- Percentage of Workers 16 Years and Older That Used Public Transportation by County
Proximity of Population and Schools to Highways
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The Utah EPHT Network collects greenhouse gas data from the Greenhouse Gas Inventories from the Utah Geological Survey. Remaining community design data were obtained using the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network application program interface (API).
View complete metadata for: green house gas, access to parks and elementary schools, commute time, proximity of population and schools to highways, and types of transportation to work.
View complete metadata for: green house gas, access to parks and elementary schools, commute time, proximity of population and schools to highways, and types of transportation to work.