The HIA addressed plans for The Crossings at 29th Street, a proposed 11.6-acre development in South Los Angeles providing more than 450 units of affordable housing, as well as retail and multipurpose space for community activities. The four-block area where The Crossings will be developed is currently being rezoned from industrial to residential and is next to a residential community and an elementary school. The area surrounding The Crossings’ project site is home to a growing population of mostly low- and very low-income families with children where overcrowding, substandard housing and lack of access to transportation and healthy food are serious health concerns for the community. The HIA considered how health would be impacted by changes in housing, transportation and pedestrian safety, access to retail and services, and parks and recreation facilities. HIA recommendations include, lowering the prices of future phases of the development to match the average local, not county-wide, income; improving the pedestrian crossings adjacent to the development and elementary school located across the street; and the use of the multipurpose space for after-school programs for children and for increasing access to fresh produce.
Outcome
Following the release of the HIA, advocates and community residents had a successful meeting with their city council member to discuss the HIA recommendations. The city council member expressed overarching support for the HIA’s recommendations. The developer is using the HIA recommendations to help determine affordable housing rates for The Crossings beginning in Phase II of the development. Groundbreaking for the first phase of The Crossings development took place in April 2010.
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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.
