The Vermont Department of Health, along with the city of Burlington, conducted an HIA to determine the potential health impacts of proposed development decisions in planBTV, a long-range plan for Burlington’s South End neighborhood. The HIA assessed potential effects of land use, transportation and recreation, and community services on chronic diseases and mental health, focusing on disparate impacts to vulnerable populations such as low-income families and racial and ethnic minorities.
The HIA recommended zoning to support mixed-use developments and establishing and implementing “Complete Streets” policies with protected bike lanes, clearly marked crosswalks, and other traffic-calming. The South End already has several access points to Lake Champlain, a neighborhood asset for recreation, so the HIA recommended improving those and adding more. The HIA also recommended that developers be required to include green space in any new or redeveloped industrial project.
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This Health Impact Assessment Report first appeared in The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health. The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health was originally developed by the Health Impact Project, formerly a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts. The creation of this resource was supported by a grant from the Health Impact Project. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts, or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
