Eau Claire wants to be a healthy place

• Vision: “Eau Claire will be a healthy, vibrant & productive community of exceptional beauty”.

• Mission: “Provide for the common good & deliver services essential for a healthy, safe, sustainable, & engaged community”.

• Purpose: “a community effort to create a Health Chapter in the City’s Comprehensive Plan to help improve human health relative to our built environment”

Yet some challenges:• 55% EC County either

overweight or obese. • 29% of children either

overweight or at risk. • 59th of 72 WI counties in ‘13

County Health Rankings for quality built environment.

• Poor access to healthy foods (many fast food restaurants, 3 USDA “food deserts”)

• City not walkable (Walk Score® rated EC as “car-dependent”)

• Heavy binge drinking & related property crimes

Chapter core areas & objectives

Urban design linkages to health outcomes

Example policies in action

Complete street ~ Woonerf design

Roadway on a diet & site connectivity

Take-a-ways• Community partners key

• Public, ACHIEVE, YMCA, Board of Health, hospitals, Chapter Advisory Board, City departments, others)

• Use public health plans & data• State 2020 Health Plan, CHIPP, CHNA, ACHIEVE’s CDC 2-year assessment, County

Health Rankings, etc.)

• Plan for opposition• Speak in public health terms like city-level/population systems; not a personal

health mandate, but providing more choice and easier to make the healthy choice)• Push back on BMI mapping, home builders & landlord community (costs, licensing

& smoke-free apartments)

• Chapter works as Health Impact Assessment guide for developers to design a healthier EC

What do we have now?• Forged a new shared vision in the community by working together• Political & stakeholder buy-in• New 5-year plan to move us forward in being a more healthy place!