The Advocate (LA)

September 20, 2010
Section: Opinion
Page: 4B
Article Text:

Letter: Public health’s link to development

In response to The Advocate’s recent coverage on the Smart Growth Summit last month in Baton Rouge and the connection between the “built environment” and public health, I would like to offer the perspective of a landscape architect and community planner.
I wholeheartedly agree with speaker Dee Merriam of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with whom I have collaborated over the past two decades.

Merriam stated that a return to sidewalks, green space, bike paths and connectivity can spark healthier behaviors and is worth our time and investment.

This is especially true in Louisiana, where preventable diseases wreak havoc on families and cost us billions in care and loss of productivity.

It’s particularly disconcerting that many children today will not live as long as their parents because of the effects of childhood obesity.

Having worked in dozens of Louisiana and Mississippi communities since 1982, I’ve watched the disturbing pattern that has led us to this point.

Walking trails go unfunded because they don’t carry the urgency of other issues. Neighborhood sidewalks are eliminated because of cost overruns. New development continues even when it overburdens roadways. Lower-income neighborhoods lack access to nutritious foods because they’re more likely to be served by convenience stores rather than supermarkets or farm stands.
Routinely, the public and private sectors have made decisions that have inadvertently impeded healthy living. Now, however, we’re starting to regard planning as an effective strategy in improving long-term health and as a powerful tool in attracting new businesses.
I was fortunate enough to participate in the 2010 Federal Reserve Board of Governors Meeting on Healthy Communities in Washington, D.C., which gathered 160 public health, finance and community development experts for an honest discussion about health and the built environment.

The message there was the same one articulated at the Louisiana Smart Growth Summit: to improve public health and to keep our communities attractive to economic development, we need to invest in long-term strategies that restore connectivity.
It’s time for “science and soul” to collide and create a vision that gives communities hope. A sidewalk is more than just a sidewalk — it’s our future.

Patrick Moore
Landscape architect and Community planner
Baton Rouge