{"pk":46825,"title":"School Siting and Walkability: Experience and Policy Implications in California","subtitle":null,"abstract":"Active School Commuting (ASC) and K-12 school siting policies and  practices have garnered increased attention in recent years from the  planning and public health fields. Of central concern is that, too  often, new school siting choices contribute to sprawl and inhibit active  transportation to school because they are located far from where  students live and/or lack surrounding pedestrian-oriented street  characteristics. California has made state policy strides in actively  promoting healthy communities, which has included an interest in  ensuring communities and school sites are more walkable. To inform this  policy area, this study measures the walkability around a sample of  schools sited and constructed in six high-growth counties in California  from 2003-2011. As California looks to implement a Health in All  Policies approach into state decision making (Executive Order S-04-10),  and weave health, equity, and environmental sustainability into more  policies, a better understanding of the relationship between school  siting and walkability is needed, particularly considering that the  state provides funds to school districts for new school construction  projects. Amidst these state health-promoting efforts, there is not  clarity on how walkable newly sited schools are. Our research with this  study addresses this gap. Our findings show that the proportion of new  schools sited in our study period in California that could be considered  objectively walkable by American urban standards is small. Thus, it  does seem that state policy actions that would increase the number of  walkability around schools may be needed to realize broader healthy  community objectives. Local inter-agency and inter-jurisdictional  collaboration can likely realize co-benefits that lead to healthy,  sustainable communities with improved educational opportunities. Clarity  in state policies, guidance, and funding priorities would likely  improve collaborative local planning for better outcomes in health,  education, and sustainability, which, in turn, maximize investments  across sectors. We add to these findings a discussion of recent policy  efforts to improve school siting outcomes in California such that they  are promoting health and walkability.","language":"en","license":null,"keywords":[{"word":"School siting, healthy communities, K-12, walkability, California, Strategic Growth Council, Health in All Policies"}],"section":"Articles","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5mh127hc","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Jeffrey","middle_name":"M.","last_name":"Vincent","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of California, Berkeley","department":"None"},{"first_name":"Ruth","middle_name":"","last_name":"Miller","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of California, Berkeley","department":"None"},{"first_name":"Lianne","middle_name":"","last_name":"Dillon","name_suffix":"","institution":"Public Health Institute","department":"None"}],"date_submitted":"2017-10-31T18:14:19-04:00","date_accepted":"2017-10-31T18:14:19-04:00","date_published":"2017-10-31T23:06:21-04:00","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cjpp/article/46825/galley/35406/download/"}]}