Safe Places to Play Identifying Opportune School Sites

for Joint Use in Oakland, CARachel Cushing || UP 206A || March 15, 2011

Childhood Obesity• Childhood obesity rates have tripled in last 30-40 years

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and PreventionImage: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_child_07_08/Figures1.png

Childhood Obesity• 7 out of 10 children in California do not meet

physical activity guidelines

• This could be the first generation of American children to have a shorter lifespan than their parents

Sources: California Health Interview Survey; Olshansky, et al. (2005)Image: http://www.rnw.nl/data/files/images/lead/fat%20boy.jpg

Access Matters

• Children that lack access to parks have 20-45% higher odds of becoming overweight or obese compared to those with easy access

• Creating or enhancing access to places for physical activity can result in a 25% increase in the percentage of people who exercise at least 3 times/week

Source: Glanz & Sallis (2006); Task Force on Community Preventive ServicesImage: http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/82284402/Photodisc

Joint Use

• The sharing of school facilities with local communities

• Health benefits• Cost benefits• Community benefits

Sources: Center for Cities and Schools; Prevention InstituteImage: http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/84550974/Taxi

Lack of Joint Use

• 40% of California school districts do not have joint use partnerships in effect

Sources: Center for Cities and Schools; Prevention InstituteImage: http://www.mysecuritysign.com/img/lg/K/No-Trespassing-School-Property-Sign-K-2949.gif

Sources: American Community Survey (2006 estimate); U.S. Census (2010 projection)

Total city population:

397,067

Zip code 94601

population: 55,425

Existing Park Space• Zip code 94601 total area: 3.38 sq.mi.

Current Situation• Park area: 0.03 sq.mi.• Area of zip code located within 0.25mi of a park: 0.57 sq.mi.• Total coverage (park area + park service area): 0.60 sq.mi.

17.86% of zip code area is within 0.25 miles of a park

≈18% of zip code area is within 0.25

miles of a park

Proposed Policy Change

• Establish joint use agreements with the 8 schools located in zip code 94601 to increase local children’s access to spaces for physical activity

8 schools total

6 schools are located >0.25 miles

from a park

It is recommended to establish joint use agreements at all 8 schools, given low student Fitnessgram

scores at all 8 schools

California Fitnessgram Categories• 1) Aerobic Capacity

– PACER (Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run)– One-Mile Run– Walk Test (only for ages 13 or older)

• 2) Abdominal Strength and Endurance– Curl-Up

• 3) Upper Body Strength and Endurance– Push-Up– Modified Pull-Up– Flexed-Arm Hang

• 4) Body Composition– Skinfold Measurements – Body Mass Index– Bioelectric Impedance Analyzer

• 5) Trunk Extensor Strength and Flexibility– Trunk Lift

• 6) Flexibility– Back-Saver Sit and Reach– Shoulder Stretch

Source: California Department of Education

Note: Learning Without Limits school was founded in 2009, thus there is no data available from the 2008-2009 Fitnessgram

Adding Spaces for Physical Activity• Zip code 94601 total area: 3.38 sq.mi

By adding joint use agreements at 8 schools• Area of zip code located within 0.25mi of schools: 0.70 sq.mi.• New total coverage (parks + park service area + school

service area): 1.31 sq.mi.

38.65% of zip code area is within 0.25 miles of a park or school

≈39% of zip code area is within 0.25 miles of a

park or school

Impact of establishing Joint Use agreements

at 8 local schools

116% increase in proportion of zip

code area covered

Safety Matters

Source: http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch7en/conc7en/probabilityimpact.html

Vehicle speed is the most

significant predictor of

pedestrian fatality in the event of a

collision

Safety Matters

• Children that must cross several major roads to get to parks are 40-60% less likely than other children to walk or bicycle to parks at least three times per week

Source: Timperio A, et al. (2004); Google images

Recommendations1. Establish joint use agreements at the

following 8 Oakland schools:1. ASCEND Elementary School2. College Prep & Architecture Academy3. Lazear Elementary School4. Learning Without Limits5. Life Academy6. Manzanita Seed7. Think College Now Elementary School8. Urban Promise Academy

2. Create a map of “safe routes” to local parks and schools and disseminate via school communications and other appropriate channels

Original Data

Process:

• Located 94601 schools on Oakland Unified School District map (OUSD district 5 region 2 encompasses zip code 94601)

• Searched OUSD website for school addresses

• Geocoded school names and addresses in ArcMap and created a layer file and shapefile

Original Data

Process:

• Located Fitnessgram data for 94601 schools on California Department of Education website

•Input Fitnessgram into Excel

• Created a model to join school shapefile with Fitnessgram data spreadsheet ,and added the resulting parameter to future maps

Metadata for my original

“OUSD_94601_ Schools_Fitgram”

layer file

Skills Demonstrated1. Modeling: created a model to join schools shapefile with Fitnessgram data (slide 25)

2. Metadata: created a metadata log for “OUSD_94601_Schools_Fitgram.lyr” in ArcCatalog (slide 26)

3. Measurement/Analysis: measured total area of park space, park service area, and school service area in zip code 94601

(map 4/slide 11 and others)

4. Original data: created original “OUSD_94601_Schools_Fitgram” layer and shapefile (data shown on map 6/slide 15,

process described on slides 23-24)

5. Chart: created a chart of school Fitnessgram results (map 6/slide 15)

6. Network Analysis: created new service areas for parks (map 4/slide 11 and others) and schools (map 7/slide 17 and

others) in zip code 94610; created new service areas to determine safest routes (map 9/slide 21)

7. Inset map: created inset maps of California (map 1/slide 7) and Oakland zip codes (map 3/slide 9)

8. Point graduated symbol: Graduated symbols by color of school Fitnessgram scores (map 6/slide 15)

9. Attribute sub-sets selections: selected Oakland zip codes from all California zip codes (map 1/slide 7 and others)

10. Geoprocessing: clipped all California parks to city of Oakland (map 2/slide 8) and to zip code 94601 (map 3/slide 9 and

others); clipped Oakland population to zip code 94601 by Census block group (map 3/slide 9 and others)

11. Geocoding: goecoded addresses of schools in zip code 94601 (map 5/slide 13 and others)

Thank You

Additional resources on joint use available via:• Prevention Institute www.jointuse.org • Public Health Law & Policy: http://www.phlpnet.org/healthy-planning/products/joint_use_toolkit