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Meeting Minutes

Action Team Name: Built Environment

Meeting Date: October 11, 2007
Note Taker name: Calvin

Agenda Item Discussion: Main Points Follow-up Actions Responsibility

New Topics Develop a clear definition of the Built
Environment that all understand...we can
get far a field if we do not
From Roy Hoffman: “The built environment is part of the overall Calvin and Plumb
ecosystem of our earth. It includes land-use planning and policies that
impact our communities in urban, rural and suburban areas. It
encompasses all buildings, spaces and products that are created, or
modified, by people. It includes our homes, schools, workplaces,
parks/recreation areas, business areas and roads. It extends overhead
in the form of electric transmission lines, underground in the form of
waste disposal sites and subway trains, and across the country in the
form of highways.” (Health Canada, 1997)

“Defined broadly to include land use patterns, the transportation

system, and design features…. Land use patterns refer to the spatial
distribution of human activities. The transportation system refers to
the physical infrastructure and services that provide the spatial links or
connectivity among activities. Design refers to the aesthetic, physical,
and functional qualities of the built environment, such as the design of
buildings and streetscapes, and relates to both land use patterns and
the transportation system.” (Institute of Medicine, 2005)
:
In more simplistic terms: one might explain the built environment to
the lay person as any part of our physical environment that is made or
modified by man.

For our action team, one could think of the built environment as a
means to influence/change both our physical and (psycho)social
environments, which could (directly) play a role in shaping our
behavioral choices (particularly physical activity and nutrition
choices), thus (indirectly) affecting our overall health.

Need to engage the following groups and

gather their work plans, data collected,
surveys completed, action steps, etc:
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• Neighborhood Associations –
through Ed Schwartz and Institute for
Civic Values, particularly EPRA,
Norris Square, Haddington, Bella
Vista From web site - the first-ever comprehensive parks, recreation, and
open-space plan. This is a unique opportunity to better the lives of
• Deputy Managing Director – Robert Philadelphians and provide a “green” legacy for years to come.
Allen –GreenPlan Philadelphia
Get strategic documents, etc. form the these groups

• 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania

• Neighborhood Bike Works – Andy
Dyson
• YMCA/YWCA
• PAL Centers
• Kids Run Philly Style
• Next Great City Initiative
• Philadelphia Recreation Centers
Advisory Council
• Block Captains and activities related
to physical activity
• United Way work on identifying
viable organizations, community
groups
• Colleges and Universities and their
making available facilities for
neighborhoods
• After school programs and their
physical activity activities,
requirements From website, selected outcomes:
• Great Expectations Project – Fels and • Creating a website that lists all the programs and funds available
Inquirer – to community groups, CDCs, and NACs—from housing
counseling to street clean-ups to money for commercial corridor
improvements.
• Creating a standardized application for these funds and programs
and an open, transparent process for evaluating those applications
in terms of clearly stated and fairly applied criteria.
• Creating special boards composed of community activists to
approve these applications, taking the decision to distribute funds
going to neighborhoods out of the hands of Council members and
bureaucrats.
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• Bypassing city government entirely by allowing citizens to
designate $25 or $50 of their wage tax to a local community
group.
• Allowing paid staff of community groups and civic associations
to receive health insurance under the city's health plan.
• Reforming the zone code in a bottom up process that allows
community groups to apply standard zoning codes to their own
neighborhood and that protects their right to block inappropriate
development in their neighborhood, perhaps by giving
neighborhood zoning boards first crack at applications for
variances.
• Ending the privilege of district Council members to direct city
funds and make planning decisions in their own districts.

Provide all interested the various

Templates the Steering Committee has Calvin
developed so members can get sense of
where we need to go and how we are to
get there

Clarify the final outputs for Action Team

Plumb and Calvin
Consider a charette like session –
intensive day long session with
community members and stakeholders
Calvin
Provide list of names of those attending
Community meeting, as well as
passions/vision/themes

Next Steps Need additional assessment data Obtain: Maps - trails,community gardens, etc Plumb, Calvin, Santana
Horticultural activities/plans
PDPH efforts on enhancing physical actvity -
Transportation "plans"
Bicycle coalition "plans"
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Greenspace "plans"
DVRPC Plannning documents
Zoning Board - health impact assessment work/status
Rec Deaprtment Center "plans"
New School Reform Commission plans on physical education, if any
After school programs/policies around physcial activity

Recruit community and youth All

membership
Synergy: List Sharing of potential data sources
examples of Linking various groups
synergy
provided at
meeting

Data/Informatio Need additional data See above

n Requests
Next Meeting Schedule in a neighborhood To be scheduled in Lower North Philadelphia – mid November Plumb
Date