Grant Expands Work to Transform Auto-Dependent Commercial Strips into Vibrant Hubs of Activity    

For more information, contact: Trisha Riggs at 202-624-7086

WASHINGTON (November 16, 2016) – The Urban Land Institute (ULI), a global research and education institute dedicated to responsible land use and creating thriving communities, has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to support the institute’s Building Healthy Places initiative. Through the initiative, ULI is leveraging the power of ULI’s global networks to shape projects and places in ways that improve the health of people and communities.

With the grant, ULI will expand its existing efforts – also supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – to transform isolated, auto-dependent commercial strip corridors into healthy, vibrant and inclusive mixed-use places. The new grant will support a project with three components that involve:

• Deepening and extending the healthy corridors program by continuing to support the existing corridors, and by working with district councils to apply the lessons learned to at least four additional corridors. ULI will create and lead a coalition of private- and public-sector stakeholders committed to changing transportation and investment strategies to support healthy corridors.
• Leveraging ULI’s member networks, including the district councils and product councils, to improve health and health equity in real estate practice. This will include the creation of a network of up to 50 Institute leaders who are committed to sharing their expertise and influence to promote building for wellness through a new ULI Health Leader Network; and working with product councils to develop additional research on the connection between land use and health.
• Strengthening and expanding the focus on healthy communities, and the importance of including health equity in land use decision-making, throughout ULI’s program of work, including existing as well as new activities.

“We are extremely grateful for this generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It will help greatly to advance ULI’s work on creating healthy, prosperous and sustainable communities,” said ULI Foundation President Kathleen Carey. “With this funding, ULI is well-positioned to make a far-reaching, long-lasting impact that will result in better communities for generations to come.”

“The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is pleased to support ULI and its work to advance a new vision for suburban and urban roadways, one that focuses on transforming these communities into places that promote health and social cohesion,” said Sharon Roerty, senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  “Our zip code may be more important than our genetic code in influencing our health, which is why we support those at the forefront of innovative urban design where we live, work, and play.”

Currently, ULI’s Healthy Corridors project, which started in 2014, involves four demonstration corridors in Los Angeles, Boise, Nashville and Denver. ULI worked with its district councils in those cities as well as the ULI/National League of Cities Rose Center for Public Leadership to engage local stakeholders in developing strategies to revive the corridors as appealing hubs that add economic and quality-of-life benefits to the communities. A new ULI publication, Building Healthy Corridors: Transforming Urban and Suburban Arterials into Thriving Places, provides guidance on the revitalization process based on lessons learned from each of the four corridors.

ULI has a long history of exploring ways to revitalize urban corridors and neighborhoods with a particular emphasis on redeveloping and adapting properties to make them more pedestrian friendly and more appealing as neighborhood gathering places. The Healthy Corridors project is part of the Institute’s ongoing pursuit of design and development practices that are environmentally conscious, economically sound, and which provide community-wide benefits.

About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has nearly 40,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information, please visit uli.org  or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.