The Urban Land Institute to Advise City of Greeley on Ways to Boost Residents’ Health and Quality of Life through Placemaking that Promotes Active Lifestyles

Nationally Renowned Panel of Land Use and Urban Planning Experts to Visit Area February 26-March 2

For more information, contact: Trisha Riggs at 202-624-7086; [email protected]

WASHINGTON (February 23, 2018) – A group of nationally renowned land use and urban planning experts representing the  Urban Land Institute (ULI) will be making recommendations next week to City of Greeley on how to bolster residents’ quality of life and promote health and wellness through placemaking and programming that promotes active lifestyles. ULI is a global, multidisciplinary real estate organization whose work is driven by 40,000-plus members dedicated to responsible land use and building thriving, sustainable communities.

The ULI panel, composed of land use professionals representing all aspects of urban design and urban development, is being sponsored by the City of Greeley and the Colorado Health Foundation. The panelists, convened through ULI’s advisory services program, will be visiting the community February 26-March 2. They will be analyzing neighborhoods in the eastern section of Greeley, focusing on access to healthy food choices and active transportation options (such as biking and walking trails), as well as the availability of safe, attractive places for physical activity. As part of its work, the panel will be considering the best approach for factors such as:

• Community engagement, including the most effective communication strategies to address outreach, education, cultural diversity and youth engagement within the study area;
• Legacy building, including ways that the city and partnering agencies can engage and support community champions and neighborhood leaders, as well as strategies for communicating the importance of east Greeley neighborhoods to the overall fabric of the community;
• Neighborhood connectivity, including an analysis of challenges and solutions for safe routes to schools and other facilities; access to nearby parks, natural areas, and recreational trails; active transportation infrastructure such as bike/pedestrian trails; access to education, food, shopping, entertainment, recreation and social services outside the neighborhoods;
• Infrastructure, including solutions for improving substandard public utilities, stormwater management systems, park infrastructure; as well as expanding access to grocery stores, restaurants, and community gathering places;
• Activating places, including recommendations for the creation and financing of programs to encourage healthy lifestyles; and
• Measuring success, including the identification of benchmarks and indicators the city should use to begin measuring the effectiveness of the panel’s strategies, and to communicate success as demonstrated by behavioral, health, economic and policy changes.

The panel’s visit is part of a series of ULI advisory services panels funded by the Colorado Health Foundation’s Healthy Places initiative that focuses on improving health and access to physical activity in communities throughout Colorado. Previous panels have made recommendations for the rural community of Lamar, the suburban community of Arvada; and the Westwood neighborhood in Denver. Most recently, ULI panels visited Commerce City and Southeast Colorado Springs to advise on improving access to safe places for physical activity.

ULI Leader Kamuron Gurol, North Corridor development director for Sound Transit in Seattle, will serve as the panel’s chairman. “We’re excited to bring ULI’s expertise to Greeley,” Gurol said. “We’ll be considering a broad spectrum of challenges and opportunities in this community to determine a set of recommendations that best address its immediate and long-term needs for better health and wellness.”

Gurol will be joined by: Nat Bottigheimer, District of Columbia region market lead, Fehr & PeersDC, Washington, D.C.; Angelo Carusi, principal, Cooper Carry, Inc., Atlanta; Sarah Hazel, assistant to the city manager – special projects, City of Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina; Bettina Mehnert, president and chief executive officer, AHL, Honolulu; Riki Nishimura, director of urban strategies, Gensler, San Francisco; Pedro Quintanilla, urban design studio lead, Michael Baker International, Pittsburgh; and Ken Stapleton, president, Ken Stapleton & Associates, Miami.

During the week, the panel will tour the neighborhoods being evaluated for the assignment and interview a variety of stakeholders in the community before developing a set of recommendations that will be presented at the conclusion of the panel’s visit. The recommendations, together with community input and existing plans, will guide the city’s development of an “Activating Health in East Greeley” strategy. The city will have the opportunity to submit their plan to the Colorado Health Foundation for up to $1 million of additional funding.

Now in its 71st year, the ULI advisory services program assembles experts in the fields of real estate and land use planning to participate on panels worldwide, offering recommendations for complex planning and development projects, programs and policies. Panels have developed more than 700 studies for a broad range of land uses, ranging from waterfront properties to inner-city retail.

According to Thomas Eitler, senior vice president of ULI’s advisory services program, the strength of the program lies in ULI’s unique ability to draw on the substantial knowledge of its 40,000-plus members, including land developers, engineers, public officials, academics, lenders, architects, planners and urban designers. “The independent views of the panelists bring a fresh perspective to the land use challenge,” Eitler said. “The advisory services program is all about offering creative, innovative approaches to community building.”

Past sponsors of ULI advisory service panels include: federal, state and local government agencies; regional councils of government; chambers of commerce; redevelopment authorities; private developers and property owners; community development corporations; lenders; historic preservation groups; non-profit community groups; environmental organizations and economic development agencies.

NOTE TO REPORTERS AND EDITORS: The panel’s recommendations will be presented on Friday, March 2, at 9 a.m. at the Greeley Recreation Center, Rooms 101A, B and C. The presentation is open to the public.

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 more than 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.