The ULI Building Healthy Places Initiative is leveraging the power of ULI’s global networks to shape projects and places in ways that improve the health of people and communities.

RWJF President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey Calls on Development Community to Build for Health

At the Fall Meeting earlier this month, Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, encouraged the development community to intentionally consider health when building communities. Said Lavizzo-Mourey, “Think about what a difference it would make if our communities were intentionally designed to encourage health, instead of making it so hard to make a healthy choice.” Watch video.

Reimagining Commercial Corridors at the 2015 ULI Fall Meeting

Nearly everyone has experienced navigating a commercial corridor, with its fast-moving traffic, auto-oriented uses, and lack of a real sense of place. The ongoing ULI Healthy Corridors program, which is focusing on how best to redevelop these places in ways that improve public health, hosted several events at the Fall Meeting in San Francisco that explored best practices. Learn more.

New Report Finds Millennials May Move Away from Bay Area

The ability to find affordable housing has known links to health, and the extremely high cost of housing in the San Francisco Bay area is affecting the future plans of millennials more than those of any other generation, according to a new ULI report, Bay Area in 2015. The report found that the costs of housing are making millennials skeptical about their ability to own or rent a home in their desired neighborhood, pointing to the potential for them to move away from, rather than within, the area. Learn more.

ULI Los Angeles Completes Health-Focused Technical Assistance Panel

A technical assistance panel, organized by ULI Los Angeles, focused on healthy development principles when making recommendations for real estate opportunities adjacent to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California. Panel recommendations for a new “healthy district” include strengthening pedestrian and bicycling linkages, energizing streets, encouraging a mix of uses, and leading a collaborative visioning effort among key stakeholders. Learn more.

Oklahoma City Leading the Charge for Healthy Development

Significant infrastructure and land use changes have helped Oklahoma City in its quest to morph from one of the fattest to one of the fittest cities in the United States. The commitment of Mayor Mick Cornett has spurred the creation of sidewalks, bike lanes, landscaped walking trails, and parks—including 2015 ULI Urban Open Space Award winner Myriad Botanical Gardens—across the city, and provided an example of strong leadership that other cities can learn from. Learn more.

Around the Network

• Tampa Wants to Be the Model for Healthy City Design: The city of Tampa is partnering with real estate developers to design a 40-acre (16 ha) district where health is the driving principle for development.
• Some of the Biggest Problems Sometimes Have the Simplest Solutions: The surgeon general’s most recent call to action presents a simple solution to the growing chronic disease epidemic: promote walking and walkable communities. However, simple solutions are not always easy to implement.
• Washington, D.C., Plays Host to 2015 National Walking Summit: From October 28 through 30, the National Walking Summit will be held in the District of Columbia. The second annual summit will convene national and local agencies and organizations around making communities safer, more accessible, and more attractive for walking.
• The (Pretty Much Totally) Complete Health Case for Urban Nature: The health benefits of parks and green space are gaining more mainstream attention.