By Rachael Schultz
The largest issues impacting the Savannah community’s health are smoking, physical activity, transportation and city planning, according to a community forum hosted by Healthy Savannah on April 29.
For Mayor Otis Johnson, creating a smoke-free environment is at the forefront of these issues.
In a video address, he stated that he started the Healthy Savannah Initiative “to encourage people in Savannah to develop a healthy lifestyle,” adding that living in a smoke-free environment is one of the most important parts of staying healthy, which is why his plan to propose a city-wide, smoke-free ordinance was a main focus of the forum.
Dr. Michael Toma of Armstrong Atlantic State University spoke about another leading issue: the impact of transportation on healthy living. He pointed out that areas surrounding downtown Savannah are “food deserts,” or places where the availability of healthy food is limited. In Savannah’s food deserts, people can’t travel far to get either groceries or healthy alternatives to what food is near because there isn’t enough sidewalk space for people to walk or bike trails for people to ride.
Speaker Craig Clements, of the Savannah urban design firm Sottile & Sottile, offered possible solutions to this issue with ideas on sustainable urbanism.
“We need to prioritize walking and biking for local travel so we can create an environment where it’ll actually feel safe and comfortable to do that,” he said. “We have to…stop making roads, which are for cars, and start making streets which are for people.”
He touched on a plan to mimic the design of Savannah’s riverfront which supports non-car transportation in creating a greenway for biking and walking around Beach High School.
“Kids don’t walk or bike to school because we haven’t created an environment that’s safe for them,” Clements said. With his plan, kids would have a safe way to get to and from school without using a car, and the area would be safer to walk in for everyone.
Each speaker pointed out that for these plans of a safer, healthier Savannah to happen, the community has to get involved. “We need to take a proactive approach to some of the decisions we make regarding our environment so that all of us can build a better community,” said facilitator Malik Watkins, a faculty member of the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government
To find out more about getting involved in the community, contact Healthy Savannah.
