November 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 33

H E A LT H & W E L L N E S S

BY ERIK A LEHMANN AND NICOLE OEHMKE

Public Health at Work
Case studies of successful programs at the local level

S YOU'VE CERTAINLY READ IN THESE PAGES BEFORE, obesity is a national crisis reaching
epidemic levels, and park and recreation agencies across the country are taking strides to
combat the problem. However, parks have been readily accessible to the public long before
the obesity crisis reached critical levels, so to make an impact, recreation leaders will need to come
up with innovative strategies to get their communities physically engaged and using their parks to
their full potential.
In Corpus Christi, Texas, and Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, city officials are trying new ideas
to shake up their communities and break local
residents out of their increasingly sedentary lifestyles. The below case studies showcase the speciﬁc problems in these two cities and detail the
initiatives local officials and park agencies are
taking to ﬁght back.

CASE STUDY 1
Mayor's Fitness Council Gets Corpus
Christi Rolling Down a New Trail
Most cities vie to be " ﬁrst " in something, but when
Corpus Christi, Texas, was named the " Fattest City
in the United States " in 2010 by Men's Health, city
leadership sought to quickly shed the pounds (and
the title) by establishing a Mayor's Fitness Council
to promote healthier lifestyles.
While amenities are plentiful, including a beautiful marina and the Gulf waters, multiple barriers exist for accessing them. Existing hike and
bike trails are in limited segments, separated
by many miles of very busy streets. Texas has a
strong " car culture " that does not consider bicycles a legitimate form of transportation, and acts
of harassment against bicyclists are common.
Consequently, many people in Corpus Christi
perceive bicycling as " too dangerous. "
The Mayor's Fitness Council (MFC) included representatives from Corpus Christi Parks and Recreation, a school district superintendent, a county
health director, the city planning department,
and others. As the MFC was discussing options to
get Corpus Christi moving, a convergence of opportunities led them to the right path: Improving
bikeability and walkability. The council was able

to tie this goal into the regional visioning for the
Coastal Bend to transform Corpus Christi into a
more bike- and pedestrian-friendly and sustainable community. They were able to secure funding through the Bold Future Initiative and TARP
(Troubled Asset Relief Program) funds for sustainable energy. In conjunction with the TARP energy assessment, the city decided to do a mobility
assessment and included hike and bike priorities
explicitly in TARP.
Initially, it was challenging to involve citizens
in this effort because of the strong car culture.
The MFC engaged the help of a local bike shop
owner to generate interest in a non-motorized
transportation plan. The bike shop owner became a community champion for the effort by
helping to sponsor a town hall meeting, negotiating access to space, donating prizes to support
the hike and bike plan effort, and disseminating
information through his highly vested network
of bicyclists.
At the town hall meeting, researchers demonstrated how Corpus Christi's current sprawling,
car-centric layout had a high cost to the city in
the form of current and future demand on utilities. Plans for new multi-use development and
multi-modal transportation were presented to
the public. Between the buzz generated by town
WWW.NRPA.ORG | NOVEMBER 2012 |

In Corpus
Christi,
Texas, and
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania,
city officials
are trying
new ideas to
shake up their
communities
and break
local residents
out of their
increasingly
sedentary
lidfestyles.

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November 2012 - Parks & Recreation

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