Create Safe and Equitable Access to Parks with this Tool

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Safe Routes To Parks Encourages People to Access Parks With This Framework

We recently shared a new toolkit about how to start your own Walking School Bus authored by Safe Routes to School National Partnership (SRTS). Now SRTS has partnered with Safe Routes to Parks, an initiative of the National Recreation and Park Association, to share an action framework to increase access to local parks. This guide provides local governments with evidence and practice-based guidance on creating safe and equitable access to parks for all people.

Why is this important?

Adults living within a half-mile of a park visit parks and exercise more often. Proximity to parks is consistently related to better physical and mental health. Yet communities with the highest levels of obesity and lowest levels of physical activity have the least safe access to parks.  According to the At the Intersection report by the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, only 49 percent of low-income communities have sidewalks and low-income blacks and Latinos were twice as likely to be killed while walking. Safe access to parks is a right and a necessity for healthy communities.

Click here to learn more
Click here to download the guide

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