After a historic year for downtown’s iconic building renovations and student housing, 2016 is an opportunity to better link public space planning with the needs of community health.
The Community Focus 2015 report card noted Greene County lags the national averages in several health factors, including physical inactivity (24 percent vs. 20 percent) and adult smoking (21 percent vs. 17 percent). It also states in spite of a great tradition of health care and wellness infrastructure in Springfield, “there is little coordination between health care providers and social service agencies that can address issues like hunger, shelter, transportation and other ancillary needs.”
The national Project for Public Spaces champions thoughtful urban planning in its article, “Ten Strategies for Transforming Cities and Public Spaces through Placemaking.” The report says, “A healthy city is one in which citizens have access to basic infrastructure, such as clean water, sanitation and sewage treatment. It is also a place where healthy food is available to everyone, where women and children can walk without fear, and where people can enjoy parks, squares and other public spaces in safety and comfort.”
In that vein, here are 10 ideas for how downtown Springfield could enhance its community spaces in 2016, while positively moving the needle on public health issues.
1. Make healthy and locally grown food more available to everyone. It was the top request by survey respondents in what they wanted to see for downtown over the next 50 years. One said, “A grocery store where downtown residents can safely walk. I would probably never drive anywhere if I didn’t have to go to the grocery store.”
2. Encourage walking whenever possible. How many people pay a membership to a fitness center and complain if they don’t have line of sight from their parking space to their destination? Walking is one of the best forms of exercise and allows for unplanned interactions with friends and acquaintances.
3. Expand programming of public spaces. Dozens of participants attend the Ozarks Regional YMCA’s yoga in Park Central Square at noon Fridays during the summer. Hundreds of new residents and employees in offices like IntrinsiQ should allow for original and funky activities to be driven by young professionals.
4. Update green space infrastructure. The Founders and Jubilee parks serve as an oasis for area patrons. However, better lighting, security cameras, sidewalks and stages would increase daily use and perception of safety. The Springfield-Greene County Park Board recently made a request to City Council for capital funding for improvements to Founders Park that would address its obsolescence.
5. Create spaces of civic pride. The city of Springfield has invested millions of dollars in streetscapes across center city the past 15 years. The Downtown Springfield Community Improvement District has worked over those same 15 years to bring additional resources to make the area cleaner, safer and more vibrant. Cultivating a sense of pride for authentic gathering spaces generates powerful peer pressures.
6. Increase capacity for community social services. In an era of meager funding for state and national social services, we’ve seen libraries, parks and sidewalks fill the void. But those spaces were designed for broader uses. Utilization of nonprofits and churches should be better coordinated to maximize the quality of services for at-risk populations.
7. Monitor public spaces through technology. The city of Springfield has 82 cameras between the square and the downtown parking garages. However, the ability to actively monitor them has been limited. The Downtown CID will be expanding its partnership with police to hire staff in early 2016 to watch public and private exterior cameras and report more incidents in real-time.
8. Promote smoking cessation programs. Many of the region’s largest employers have led by example to create tobacco-free campuses. Companies should look at the New Year as a chance to help colleagues kick the habit and become healthier.
9. Celebrate alternative transportation. The opening of the new City Utilities bus transfer station this spring will be a long-awaited milestone for alternative transportation. The $5 million facility will have the chance to reintroduce the system to the entire Springfield community.
10. Fill the greenway gaps. Ozark Greenways takes care of a trail system of over 100 miles. Just a handful of key gaps remain that would connect downtown and the four major college campuses with the South Creek greenway and Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. Completing those links could encourage bicycle commuting and entice green tourism.
The momentum of private development in 2015 is a unique opportunity to cultivate an exciting vision for vibrant and healthier public spaces in 2016.
Rusty Worley, executive director of Downtown Springfield Association, can be reached at rusty@itsalldowntown.com.
