NPSG13-113

Living in a Sustainable Community Can Lengthen Your Life!

Speakers: Dan Burden, Executive Director, Walkable and Livable Communities Institute; Joel Spoonheim, President, Spoonheim Group; Laura Jackson, Executive Vice President, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield; Kent Sovern, Iowa State Director, AARP. Moderator: Amy Levner, Manager, Livable Communities, AARP

Can a community transform itself in two years to reverse negative health outcomes, by changing city policies and budgets, restaurant menus, worksite wellness practices, schools, and even individuals’ sense of purpose and social circles? Yes! Already seven communities across the United States are implementing the Blue Zones Project by Healthways. In a matter of months, not years, thousands of citizens and leaders across all sectors get involved making healthy choices easy choices. This approach is based on the lessons of the longest living communities in the world, called Blue Zones areas. Ten well-coordinated and research-backed strategies can lead to measurable improvements in wellbeing and longevity. The recommended practices include adopting Complete Streets policies and projects, creating safe routes to schools and walking schools buses, and other efforts to change the environment. The work started in 2009 with the AARP/Blue Zones Project and now is scaling to serve communities across the U.S.

Audio CDs: 1

Audio CD

$15.00

$15.00

NPSG13-202

Innovative Municipal approaches to Equitable Reinvestment and Revitalization

Speakers: Jeff Hebert, Executive Director, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority; Michael Braverman, JD, Deputy Commissioner, Housing Authority of Baltimore City, MD. Moderator: Nicole Heyman, JD, LLM, Vice President and Director of New Orleans Vacant Properties Initiative, Center for Community Progress.

Code enforcement, nuisance abatement and the legal systems they work within directly impact the quality of life, reinvestment opportunities and long-term sustainability and affordability of neighborhoods. At its core, the goal of a code enforcement program is to encourage responsible property ownership. Code enforcement is property regulatory system and that helps prevent vacancy, abandonment and disinvestment. As communities seek to protect neighborhoods and individuals from the negative impacts of substandard or vacant properties and negligent landowners and landlords – problems often disproportionately affecting communities of color and low-income residents – it’s more important than ever to create strategic approaches and partnerships to achieve positive and equitable outcomes. This interactive discussion among some of the country’s most thoughtful and innovative problem-solvers explores how code enforcement departments, the courts and redevelopment authorities are working together to hold negligent property owners accountable, eliminate blight, and drive development opportunities in disinvested neighborhoods.

Audio CDs: 1

Audio CD

$15.00

$15.00

Subtotal

$30.00