Designing Healthy Communities—Improving our nation’s public health by re-designing and restoring our built environment

April 23, 2013 / DHC, Richard Jackson, M.D. | Our Host / by DHC

New Designing Healthy Communities’ first Town Hall Meeting on April 30, 2013

The Designing Healthy Communities Project produced its first Town Hall Meeting at WNET Studios on April 30, 2013 for broadcast on three PBS tri-state stations in May. MPC will be producing its first major community engagement activity, a town hall meeting, derived from its four-hour public television series, Designing Healthy Communities, now being distributed on stations nationally. Read the DHC Press Release April 26, 2013 here. Also check out the broadcast times here for Designing Healthy Communities and the 2-hour Town Hall Meeting in New York Tri-State Region in May. Related Topics [...]

July 2, 2012 / Transportation / by DHC

Designing Healthy Communities promotional video

Dr. Richard Jackson explains the link between our health and the way our communities — especially our suburbs — are designed. Obesity, asthma, diabetes and heart disease are all aggravated by the auto-centric way we live our lives today. It’s no secret that today’s generation of children are likely to have shorter lives than their parents because of their unhealthy lifestyles. It doesn’t have to be this way. Well-designed communities can improve both physical and mental health, as Dr. Jackson [...]

December 14, 2011 / Design, DHC / by Designing Healthy Communities

Episode 1: Retrofitting Suburbia

Dr. Richard Jackson MD MPH, investigates the link between our nation’s obesity and Type 2 Diabetes epidemic with urban sprawl fueled by car dependency. To prevent disease through better urban planning, Boulder, CO redesigns the city to make bicycles a safe alternative transportation. Related Topics or Episodes:*New* Designing Healthy Communities’ first Town Hall Meeting on April 30, 2013Designing Healthy Communities promotional videoEpisode 2: Rebuilding Places of the HeartEpisode 3: Social Policy in ConcreteEpisode 4: Searching for Shangri LaDesigning Healthy [...]

December 14, 2011 / DHC, Health / by Designing Healthy Communities

Episode 2: Rebuilding Places of the Heart

Parents and children under seige. When U.S. industry and manufacturing collapsed or went elsewhere, cities like Elgin, IL, and Syracuse, NY, (like many communities in the United States) were left with the task of redefining themselves for a new paradigm. Leading the way to a greener, more sustainable Elgin is a group of high school students. Related Topics or Episodes:*New* Designing Healthy Communities’ first Town Hall Meeting on April 30, 2013Designing Healthy Communities promotional videoEpisode 1: Retrofitting Suburbia Episode [...]

December 14, 2011 / DHC, People / by Designing Healthy Communities

Episode 3: Social Policy in Concrete

Dr. Jackson believes it is every citizen’s right to live in a clean, healthy environment. This isn’t the case for many low-income neighborhoods, built near big transportation hubs and struggling industrial cities like Oakland, CA and Detroit, MI. We meet a morbidly obese grandmother struggling to raise seven grandchildren, all of whom have asthma as a result of living near the Port of Oakland. The city of Detroit resembles an abandoned war zone. Yet, hope blossoms in both. Related [...]

December 13, 2011 / DHC, People / by Designing Healthy Communities

Episode 4: Searching for Shangri La

Dr. Jackson searches past and present America for healthy, sustainable communities of all sizes and shapes that can serve as models for the rest of the nation. His journey takes him to Roseto, PA, Prairie Crossing, IL, New York City, Charleston, SC, and the forgotten 1960s urban renewal project of Lafayette Park in Detroit, MI, the brainchild of 4 men, including visionary architect, Mies van der Rohe. Related Topics or Episodes:*New* Designing Healthy Communities’ first Town Hall Meeting on April 30, 2013Designing Healthy [...]

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Now showing on PBS public television stations throughout the United States:
A provocative new 4-hour series, "Designing Healthy Communities." Host/Narrator Richard Jackson, MD, MPH, looks at the impact our built environment has on key public health indices – obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, cancer and depression. Dr. Jackson connects bad community design with burgeoning health costs, then analyzes and illustrates what citizens are doing about this urgent crisis by looking upstream for innovative solutions.

Latest Projects & Topics

Dr. Jackson’s Op/Ed in Streetsblog.org

August 1, 2012 / Transportation

Dr. Richard Jackson, Host of MPC’s Designing Healthy Communities, and Rishi Manchanda, recently wrote an Op/Ed piece featured in StreetsBlog.org. The article “Touchdown Pass or Lost Yardage– What Will It Be AEG?” introduces the negative impacts of the proposed football stadium and new Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles by Anshutz Entertainment Group (AEG). A Health Impact Assessment (HIA) found that the new structure, Farmers’ Field, will produce harmful consequences, and not only that, but AEG doesn’t have provide any [...]

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Dr. Jackson featured in Public News Service article

July 30, 2012 / DHC, People

Dr. Richard Jackson, Host of MPC’s Designing Healthy Communities, was recently featured in Public News Service, News in the Public Interest. The article, “’Built’ Communities: A New Live/Work/Play Model” talks about the importance of building communities that supports walking, biking and car sharing, not automobiles. Denver Housing Authority plans to take this approach and with the $4.5 million initiative provided by the Colorado Health Foundation, neighborhoods across Colorado will be transformed. Read the full article here. Related Topics or [...]

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Designing Healthy Communities Reaches More Than 1 Million Viewers

July 27, 2012 / DHC

Designing Healthy Communities, hosted by Dr. Richard Jackson, has performed extremely well on public television nationwide since the four-hour mini-series was made available to stations in January 2012. Our total viewership is more than 1 million: more than 1 million people have watched one or more of the episodes, according to the latest report. Since January, the series has been available to 77% of US TV households nationally, aired on the main public TV stations in 92 cities, on the [...]

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Dr. Jackson awarded Honorary Membership in the ASLA

July 26, 2012 / DHC

The American Society of Landscape Architects has awarded Dr. Jackson honorary membership in the Society, one of the highest honors of the organization. Honorary membership is bestowed on “persons other than landscape architects whose achievements of national or international significance or influence have provided notable service to the profession of landscape architecture.” The honor was announced in June and will be awarded in an ASLA reception in September. This award, honoring a medical professional for his impacts in the field [...]

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Statewide tour in Oregon

July 25, 2012 / Design, DHC

In June, Dr. Jackson partnered with the Education and Outreach Committee of the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association, 1000 Friends of Oregon, the Oregon Environmental Council, and the Oregon Transportation and Growth Management Program to spread the message of Designing Healthy Communities across the state. Traveling to six cities and meeting with more than 650 people, Dr. Jackson talked the talk and walked the walk of DHC. Meeting in libraries and city auditoriums, and leading discussions at luncheons, Dr. Jackson [...]

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The “Grave Health Risks” of Poor Urban Design

July 25, 2012 / Design, DHC

Dr. Jackson recently co-wrote an article appearing in The Atlantic Cities. Writing with Michael Mehaffy, Dr. Jackson assesses the roots of the US obesity epidemic, and argues the same message that is the core of Designing Healthy Communities: the built environment can, and must be reassessed with human health in mind. You can read the full article’s text below or click here for the original post on The Atlantic Cities. The Grave Health Risks of Unwalkable Communities Richard J. [...]

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Dr. Jackson featured in US News & World Report article

July 24, 2012 / Design, DHC, Transportation

Dr. Richard Jackson, host of MPC’s Designing Healthy Communities, was recently featured in US News & World Report. The article, “Can ‘New Urbanism’ Bring Health to Your Neighborhood?” highlights the growing demand for mixed use, walkable development and urban-style living, being preferred by both young Millenials and baby boomers. Read the full article, published in US News & World Report on June 7, 2012, here. Related Topics or Episodes:No Related Posts

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Designing Healthy Communities promotional video

July 2, 2012 / Transportation

Dr. Richard Jackson explains the link between our health and the way our communities — especially our suburbs — are designed. Obesity, asthma, diabetes and heart disease are all aggravated by the auto-centric way we live our lives today. It’s no secret that today’s generation of children are likely to have shorter lives than their parents because of their unhealthy lifestyles. It doesn’t have to be this way. Well-designed communities can improve both physical and mental health, as Dr. Jackson [...]

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Media Policy Center Honored for Its Environmental Stewardship

April 30, 2012 / Transportation

The Media Policy Center is being honored Wednesday, May 2, for its efforts to promote environmental stewardship and sustainability, as the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce presents its 2012 Sustainable Quality Awards. The Sustainable Quality Awards (SQA) were created in 1995 to honor businesses in Santa Monica that have made significant achievements in the areas of sustainable economic development, social responsibility and stewardship of the natural environment. This year’s Sustainable Quality Awards will highlight the power of the entertainment industry [...]

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Transportation Secretary LaHood Kicks Off Construction of Cincinnati’s New Streetcar Line

February 23, 2012 / Transportation

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood helped kick off construction of a new 3.9-mile streetcar line that will spur Cincinnati’s efforts to revitalize its downtown core by improving access to major employers, the developing riverfront, and many area attractions. The Secretary was joined at the Feb. 13 event by Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff and Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory. “President Obama called on us to rebuild America by putting people back to work on transportation projects that are built to last, [...]

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Town Hall Meetings Coming Soon!

February 9, 2012 / Design

How can your community be designed to be healthier? Public involvement is the key — and a series of DHC Town Hall Meetings will bring together community leaders in cities across the nation to discuss changes that can be made now and in the future to improve walkability and community involvement. Learn more in this video and contact us to schedule a Town Hall Meeting in your community. Email dale@mediapolicycenter.org, harry@mediapolicycenter.org or call 310/828-2966 to get the process started in your [...]

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Walkability Raises Housing Values, Study Finds

February 3, 2012 / Design

Can you walk to stores, schools and a park from your home? If so, your house or condo may be worth substantially more than those in more isolated, pedestrian-hostile neighborhoods. That’s the finding of “Walking the Walk: How Walkability Raises Housing Values in U.S. Cities,” a study by Joseph Cortright that analyzed data from 94,000 real estate transactions in 15 major markets provided by ZipRealty and found that in 13 of the 15 markets, higher levels of walkability, as measured [...]

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