This award recognizes a community’s commitment to improving access to trails and promoting their use and importance for increasing physical activity.
The Baton Rouge Health District consists of a series of new roads and a Health Loop trail lined with parks that will improve pedestrian access, add exercise paths, and promote outdoor activity and fitness.
In 2015, Louisiana was in last place in population health, in part due to racial disparities and a high poverty rate. Louisiana’s rate of residents with Type 2 diabetes ranks among the highest in the country. In 1998, roughly 6.5 percent of the state’s population had diabetes. This number has now risen to 13.9 percent, or 520,000 people. As part of a larger campaign focused on improving public health, Louisiana’s capital turned to an increasingly common strategy by using urban planning and creating the new Baton Rouge Health District. The District consists of a series of new roads and a Health Loop trail lined with parks that will improve pedestrian access, add exercise paths, and promote outdoor activity and fitness. The addition of street amenities such as; streetscape, signage, bus stops, sidewalk improvements, landscaping, and art installations along exits to Highway 10 will give the District a unified look. Since the completion of the master plan in 2015, the Baton Rouge Health District has worked with state and local partners to add four miles of additional sidewalks and trails. Visitors will be able to access care, wellness classes, and visit a farmers market, all in one trip.
2023: Arizona Alliance for Livable Communities
2017: Quad City Health Initiative, Be Healthy QC Coalition, and Bi-State Regional Commission
2015: Get Your Tail on the Trail
2010: Step Into Cuba Alliance
2008: Pottstown Health and Wellness Foundation
2006: Arkansas River Trail Medical Mile Project
2006: Memorial Hospital Foundation - River Bluff Trail, Logansport, Indiana
2004: Jane Lambert
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