Buffalo, NY
about
The Healthy Communities Initiative focuses on developing and improving the neglected infrastructure in the Allentown and Fruitbelt neighborhoods and reconnecting them to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC). The results, an enhanced open space network for pedestrians and cyclists and targeted communications, will increase physical activity and promote wellness for both neighbors and employees. The Healthy Communities Initiative has generated a new partnership among Allentown and Fruitbelt, two distinctly different neighborhoods, and the BNMC. Historically, the three groups were polarized by cultural differences and social stereotypes. Through the partnership, these groups created a common vision and are implementing a focused strategy to improve the environment and the health of its inhabitants – one that is yielding visible positive changes.
The partnership convened a committee of community stakeholders to create a plan for integrating art with the environment and drafted legislation leading to the creation of the city's first bicycle/pedestrian advisory committee. They also developed the "Active Living Road Show" to educate neighbors and to help assess the area's physical infrastructure. Results were presented to city officials, and some projects have been incorporated into citywide planning efforts and capital improvement plans. In addition, an urban design template was created to guide implementation of activity-friendly projects.
The partnership also helped to create a BNMC campuswide wellness team to promote activities that target its 8,000 employees. The partnership organizes and promotes regional events, such as National Employee Health and fitness Day, created a campus-wide walking activity, Walking on Wednesdays (WOW), and developed and launched a community bike share program, Buffalo Blue Bicycles.
The Buffalo Healthy Communities Initiative is led by BNMC and includes the City of Buffalo, State Department of Transportation, Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo, Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council, Fruitbelt and Allentown neighborhood associations, St. John Baptist Church, law enforcement officials, and others. The Healthy Communities Initiative focuses on developing and improving the neglected infrastructure in the Allentown and Fruitbelt neighborhoods and reconnecting them to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC). The results, an enhanced open space network for pedestrians and cyclists and targeted communications, will increase physical activity and promote wellness for both neighbors and employees. The Healthy Communities Initiative has generated a new partnership among Allentown and Fruitbelt, two distinctly different neighborhoods, and the BNMC. Historically, the three groups were polarized by cultural differences and social stereotypes. Through the partnership, these groups created a common vision and are implementing a focused strategy to improve the environment and the health of its inhabitants – one that is yielding visible positive changes. The partnership convened a committee of community stakeholders to create a plan for integrating art with the environment and drafted legislation leading to the creation of the city's first bicycle/pedestrian advisory committee. They also developed the "Active Living Road Show" to educate neighbors and to help assess the area's physical infrastructure. Results were presented to city officials, and some projects have been incorporated into citywide planning efforts and capital improvement plans. In addition, an urban design template was created to guide implementation of activity-friendly projects. The partnership also helped to create a BNMC campuswide wellness team to promote activities that target its 8,000 employees. The partnership organizes and promotes regional events, such as National Employee Health and fitness Day, created a campus-wide walking activity, Walking on Wednesdays (WOW), and developed and launched a community bike share program, Buffalo Blue Bicycles. The Buffalo Healthy Communities Initiative is led by BNMC and includes the City of Buffalo, State Department of Transportation, Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo, Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council, Fruitbelt and Allentown neighborhood associations, St. John Baptist Church, law enforcement officials, and others.
our story
"Buffalo is the best planned city in America," according to Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed its system of great streets and parkways that interconnect key neighborhoods. These public spaces, which were intended to unify and enhance the health and well-being of its residents, actually divided some neighborhoods and created tension. Nowhere was this dynamic more prominent than the Allentown, Medical Campus, and Fruitbelt neighborhoods. Cracked and broken sidewalks, few safe street crossings, poor lighting, and neglected public policies were symbols of deeper, historically divisive relationships among these three diverse neighborhoods. Today, however, streets and sidewalks are bringing neighborhoods together and contributing to better health. In an unprecedented collaboration as part of Buffalo's Active Living by Design project, the Allentown, Medical Campus, and Fruitbelt neighborhoods developed a joint vision to be "... united to create its future by choice, not chance, thereby enhancing its assets, diversity and quality of life." Citizens, employers and the city government are reclaiming and rebuilding the streets for pedestrians and cyclists and, as a result, making Buffalo a healthier and more vital community.
opportunities
Approximately 7,000 residents and 8,000 employees live and work in the project area. The area boasts a diverse population who share a common challenge: City of Buffalo residents are overweight. The city's overweight rate is three times the national average and two times higher than that of the state.
Buffalo neighborhoods also have neglected infrastructures. Walkability audits and community workshops between the BNMC and neighbors revealed that physical activity is inhibited by broken sidewalks, the absence of crosswalks, overgrown vegetation, broken streetlights, unshoveled winter sidewalks, and crime.
In the future, the partnership will work on Artscape, an initiative to integrate art and wellness into the streetscape and infrastructure. The first phase of active living improvements will begin on the BNMC using $13 million of federal transportation funding. The partnership also will emphasize educating policymakers on the significance of the neglected infrastructure in the Fruitbelt and Allentown neighborhoods. finally, the partnership will continue enhancing and expanding the Buffalo Blue Bicycle program.
accomplishments
In Action
