Livable Streets, a new statewide University of Missouri Extension initiative, hopes to bring about change to roads in urban and rural areas to give people the infrastructure needed to walk, bike and jog safely in their communities.
PRINCETON, Mo. -- In a world full of cars it’s easy to forget that the ability to get around by foot and pedal affects the health and livability of a community.
“Our health is defined by the choices we have, and we are just trying to promote a wider range of healthy opportunities to the communities,” said Wilson Majee, an MU Extension community development specialist for Mercer County. “We completed a countywide survey asking people why they don’t do physical activity or choose healthy foods, and most people showed that they have limited access to places to do these activities.”
Majee and a network of others throughout Missouri are organizing the Livable Streets effort to plan and redesign streets to make them safe for pedestrians, bicyclists and automobiles.
MU Extenion representatives have met with community members from Princeton, Mercer and other towns excited about the health benefits that walkable streets could bring.
Reviewed 2013-02-18