Beyond Safe Routes to School

Creating safe spaces for walking and wheeling to school is just the start to helping create physical activity and healthy lifestyle opportunities in Jefferson County. In addition to Safe Routes to School (SRTS), community members can explore strategies to foster a healthy lifestyle in other ways, including advocating for access to and use of playgrounds, fields and gymnasiums that would otherwise not be open after schools; champion opportunities to make it safer and more convenient for people to walk, wheel or take transit to access healthy foods; and improve transportation access to parks and recreation.

  1. Shared Use
  2. Safe Routes to Healthy Foods
  3. Safe Routes to Parks

School districts and municipal organizations increasingly see shared use agreements as a promising strategy to create opportunities for physical activity within a neighborhood or community. Making use of playgrounds, fields and gymnasiums that would otherwise not be open after hours for basketball games, Zumba, yoga classes or other types of activity allows for a more efficient use of public space, and is an inexpensive strategy to address childhood obesity, particularly in low-income communities.

Read more.