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The Healthy Environments Partnership and the Detroit Food & Fitness Collaborative Present the 2nd Round of Active Living Detroit Mini-Grants
The Active Living Detroit Mini-Grant program engages Detroiters in promoting activity friendly environments throughout Detroit. Mini-grants of up to $1000 will fund community projects aimed at promoting physical activity and environments that support active living and physical health.
Priority will be given to projects that:
- Engage community residents, particularly youth;
- Support complete streets concepts and implementation; and
- Incorporate Detroit Greenways.
Mini-grant dollars can be used for sustainable projects such as walking groups that bring local residents together for physical activity, fitness clubs organized at community centers, or efforts to improve street safety for bikers and pedestrians.
Application deadline: Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Application materials are also available on the Healthy Environments Partnership website: www.hepdetroit.org
If you have questions about submitting an application please contact:
Julia Weinert
734-763-0741
[email protected]
By: Myra Marie Tetteh, MPP
Detroit Complete Streets Coalition Coordinator
During a practice activity at the November events community members develop their vision of a better Detroit through complete streets infrastructure improvements.
The Detroit Complete Streets Coalition is continuing to grow. Current members include the following city departments: Department of Public Works (DPW), City Planning Commission (CPC), Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT), Detroit Police Department (DPD), Planning and Development Department (PDD); community members; Wayne State University; and organizations such as the AARP, City Connect Detroit, Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), Transit Riders United (TRU), and Warriors on Wheels (WOW). The coalition has met monthly since May 2010 and shows no signs of slowing down.
Thus far, the coalition has held three community events and has participated in several others. The first event held back in March (2011) was attended by over 150 people and sponsored in part by Slow’s BBQ and the Gaelic League. The most recent events sponsored in part by the AARP and Detroit Food and Fitness Collaborative, held in early November (2011) were attended by approximately 100 people from various organizations and members of the community. The three events have educated residents on complete streets, highlighted local complete streets infrastructure, and allowed participants to give a glimpse of what improvements they wish to see.
The Detroit Complete Streets Coalition worked together to draft an ordinance to require complete streets planning for appropriate street projects. The ordinance when passed will be a big step for the city of Detroit to affirm its commitment to pedestrian and bicycle safety through infrastructure improvements for its residents and users. Currently, the ordinance is in the Law Department and following the official legal review the ordinance will be introduced by City Council and voted on for approval. It is our hope that though the city of Detroit is undergoing finance difficulties that this ordinance is not lost in the shuffle; improving health, safety, and community cohesiveness is a necessity in any economic time.
To learn more about the Detroit Complete Coalition or its work please contact us via email at [email protected], visit us on the web at www.detroitcompletestreets.org, or like us on Facebook at the Complete Streets in Detroit page.
About 160 people attended the Detroit Complete Streets Community Workshop on March 31st. The Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion (DHWP), in collaboration with Detroit Complete Streets Coalition partners including MTGA, were hosts of this free event that introduced Complete Streets, the concept of promoting walking, biking, and transportation for a healthier and safer Detroit.
The workshop included a Complete Streets presentation by Richard Wooten, an extension educator from Michigan State University. The event was catered by Slows Bar B-Q, compliments of the coalition.
The Department of Health & Wellness Promotion is hosting a Complete Streets workshop to discuss walking, biking and transportation in Detroit on March 31, 2011, from 6:00 - 8:00 pm. The event is free and dinner will be provided by Slows BBQ compliments of the Complete Streets Coalition. Featured Guest Speaker will be Richard Wooten, Extension Educator at MSU. More details below:
In 2010, the Cardiovascular Health, Physical Activity and Nutrition Section at the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) in partnership with Healthy Kids, Healthy Michigan Coalition received a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support the passage of a state level complete streets resolution and future legislation. The funding is also intended to support efforts by local health departments to pass complete streets ordinances in their communities.
Michigan Department of Community Health is also contributing additional funding to the effort. Seven health departments were awarded grants of $12,000 a piece to support local complete streets efforts.
“Passage of complete streets ordinances will help insure that our communities accommodate all forms of transportation and not just automobiles,” said Lisa Grost, Public Health Consultant for MDCH. “Increasing safety for pedestrians and bicyclists and improving physical activity levels through active infrastructure is a win-win for Michigan communities.”
For the 2010 grant year, the following local health departments and communities have been awarded the ARRA-Complete Streets grant:
| Local Health Department | Community |
| Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion | City of Detroit |
| Washtenaw County Health Department | City of Saline |
| Ingham County Health Department | City of East Lansing |
| Western U.P County Health Department | City of Houghton |
| Marquette County Health Department | Marquette Township |
| Genesee County Health Department | City of Flint and City of Linden |
| Jackson County Health Department | City of Jackson |
Greenway Trail Will Ultimately Link Midtown Detroit to Downtown
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR Log (Press Release) – Apr 15, 2010 – Construction is underway on the Midtown Greenway, a four phase, two-mile greenway trail that will circle through Detroit’s University Cultural Center, Wayne State University and Medical Center and Brush Park districts.
Today at a press conference held at the Detroit Institute of the Arts, organizers officially broke ground to signify the start of the first of four phases of construction. When completed, the linked trails will provide eight miles of continuous greenways, enabling people to go from Wayne State University through the Eastern Market to the Detroit Riverfront.
The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, through its GreenWays Initiative program, along with The Kresge Foundation, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus funds), Michigan State University Land Policy Institute, First American Title Insurance Company, SAFETEA-LU and Woodward Avenue Action Association (WA3) are providing the funding for the Midtown Greenway.
“We are honored to be part of the collaboration that is helping connect Detroit,” said Mariam Noland, president of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. “Today marks the start of another greenways project that will become another amazing addition to the city. We look forward to the Midtown Greenway becoming a destination for families, outdoor enthusiasts and local residents to safely travel and enjoy what our city has to offer.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Click graphic to enlarge
As published in the Detroit Free Press on April 8/2010.
Detroit is embarking on an ambitious plan to create bike lanes on roads across town, giving cyclists like Jon Koller designated space for riding as city leaders and community groups rethink street and land use in a shrinking city.
It’s a big change. Although the city is starting with about 30 miles in a handful of neighborhoods this year, there eventually could be as many as 400 miles of bike lanes in Detroit.
“I think it’s going to encourage more people to get out there and take biking as a serious form of transportation,” said Koller, 25, who lives in the city’s Corktown neighborhood and commutes by bike to Wayne State University, where he’s a doctoral student in transportation engineering.
Read the rest of this story at www.freep.com
New mobility report says peak-time travelers in the Detroit area lose an average of 52 hours a year and waste 34 gallons of fuel because of traffic congestion and transit delays.
Read the Detroit Free Press Article
Read the report at http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums
Complete Streets reduce congestion. Providing more travel options relieves some of the burden on our overcrowded roadways – everyone can get where they want to go more quickly and efficiently. Michiganders could face less traffic congestion and cut their transportation costs if statewide Complete Streets policies were implemented. The average American who lives in an area that’s walkable and has transit spends only 9% of their income on transportation, while a person living in an area that requires driving spends more than 25%. In addition, Complete Streets are cost effective because when cities and towns build streets correctly the first time, they reduce congestion, pollution, and local contributions to the global warming problem by providing several travel options.
