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Smart, equity-focused transit oriented development (TOD) pdf creates compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented communities -- located around new or existing public transit stations -- to achieve a number of different objectives: reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, lower residents' transportation costs, promote walking and health, ease traffic congestion, and improve environmental quality.

The new TOD tool (pdf), the latest in the PolicyLink Equitable Development Toolkit, focuses on how to implement TOD in a way that achieves equity goals. Check out the TOD tool for strategies and lessons learned, so that you can advocate for equitable transit oriented development.

Browse to TOD tool (html) in Equitable Development Toolkit.

Regional equity is part of a broad and hopeful vision for full inclusion and sustainability and the focus of the recent PolicyLink summit in New Orleans in early March. Distributed first to summit participants, Regional Equity and the Quest for Full Inclusion is the document that sets the scene for change. It examines the history of equity in America and how national and global forces are creating unique challenges and opportunities. It concludes with a vision of the future characterized by shared economic prosperity and true participatory democracy, one where everyone--including people of color and residents of low-income communities--can contribute and benefit.

For press coverage from Regional Equity '08: The Third National Summit on Equitable Development, Social Justice, and Smart Growth, click here.

Transforming Community Development with Land Information Systems, a new report released by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy describes how community organizations are using property data to revitalize urban areas and create affordable housing where it is most needed. The report was co-authored by PolicyLink senior associate Sarah Treuhaft and by G. Thomas Kingsley of the Urban Institute.

Click here to read the full press release issued by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Join Demos as they host a celebratory fundraising event, marking their achievements over the past eight years and redoubling their commitment to make change in the next year and years to come.

The event will honor Senator John Edwards and Susan Berresford, Former President of the Ford Foundation, for their lifetime's work toward the America that Demos envisions: one with a vibrant and inclusive democracy, a prosperity that is widely shared, and a public sector with the capacity and accountability to plan for the common good.

To purchase tickets, please contact Rachel Whiting at (212) 419-8771 or rwhiting@demos.org; or for general information about the event, please click here.

PolicyLink is a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity by Lifting Up What Works®

Our Equitable Development Updates, a monthly e-newsletter, highlights new research, upcoming events, advocacy campaigns, policy strategies, and promising practices from communities across the country. Our New Publications email announces recent research, reports, and policy briefs. Sign Up to stay informed.

New Study Finds Food Options Affect Risk for Diabetes, Obesity

Californian's face an added challenge as they battle expanding waistlines and obesity-related diseases – their home address. A landmark study by PolicyLink, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy shows the state’s first direct correlation between where you live and your risk for obesity or diabetes. The groundbreaking study, Designed for Disease: the Link Between Local Food Environments and Obesity and Diabete, examines the correlation between the health of nearly 40,000 Californians and the mix of retail food outlets near their homes. The key finding: people living in neighborhoods crowded with fast-food and convenience stores but relatively few grocery or produce outlets are at significantly higher risk of suffering from obesity and diabetes.

“Clearly the obesity crisis in California can no longer be seen only as a fight over personal choices,” said Victor Rubin, Vice President for Research at PolicyLink. “Public policies drive the universe of food options from which we can choose. Families who live in communities with choices limited to high-calorie foods and beverages face substantially greater health risks. Policy makers at the state and local level can save lives by giving Californian's healthier food options.”

To read the full report, click here. To read the press release, click here. To see a sampling of the news coverage generated by this report vist the PolicyLink News Page.

Where You Live Affects How You Live

Socioeconomic and environmental conditions such as income, segregation, pollution, crime, availability of fresh foods and safe recreational facilities, and accessible quality housing have dramatic impacts on individual and community health.

Richmond CA blighted neighborhood This message resounds in the landmark PBS documentary Unnatural Causes ... Is Inequality Making us Sick?, a four-part series that sheds light on the critical importance of economics, race and class on health outcomes. The documentary skillfully boy with ball portrays the vast disparities in health and overall quality of life between families with wealth and those clinging to the middle and lower rungs of the economic ladder. (photos courtesy of Unnatural Causes)

Go to EquityBlog and join the discussion, why place matters when it comes to health.

The following two reports further discuss the link between neighborhood conditions and the health of residents:

Why Place Matters: Building the Movement for Healthy Communities

provides a way to understand the relationship between community conditions and health, analyzes the connections among all the environmental factors that contribute to a healthy community, and identifies environmental effects on community health.

The Impact of the Built Environment on Health, by The California Endowment and PolicyLink, provides both a framework for understanding the necessary elements for building a movement for policy change and better planning, as well as numerous illustrations of innovative practices, projects and networks of advocates and professionals.

For more information about our health work, visit the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place.

Introducing The PolicyLink Center for Infrastructure Equity

stable buildings, reliable buses, good schools, and other infrastructure needs The PolicyLink Center for Infrastructure Equity advocates for fair and inclusive policies and provides community and grassroots leaders, advocates, and public officials with the tools, training, and consultation needed to ensure that public investments in infrastructure create economic opportunity and health in all communities.

The center has evolved out of several years of action-oriented research and partnerships by PolicyLink with state and local organizations, and is poised to continue that work while also addressing key new federal infrastructure policy opportunities. For more information about the center, visit the Infrastructure overview page or to download the brochure for The PolicyLink Center for Infrastructure Equity, click here.