Objective PI.7 Assure access to daily goods and service needs

Indicators, Development Targets and Policies/Design Strategies

Indicators Development Targets Policies/Design Strategies
Primary
a. Neighborhood completeness indicator for key public services

Benchmark: Is the project within 1/2 mile of an area that has 8 out of 11 common public services that contribute to neighborhood completeness?

Neighborhood public services include: childcare/daycare, community garden, hospital and public health clinic, library, open spaces, neighborhood or regional parks of 1/2 acre or more, performance/cultural space, post office, public art, recreational facility, and public school.
  • Restrict the proliferation of predatory lenders via zoning restrictions and other land use tools.1,2
  • Promote the retention of neighborhood-serving, full-service financial institutions in the neighborhood; Work with the bank to develop a plan for assuring financial services are not diminished, but improved, through the branch network, an alternative service delivery system or the building of new branches; Encourage the donation or sale of the building to nonprofit community development agencies; and/or assuring proactive efforts to replace the bank business with a new business so the facility does not become a vacant building.3
  • Implement land use regulations for fast food outlet density such as limits on formula, chain, or non-sit down establishments.4

  • Encourage the fire department to open satellite stations in underserved low-income neighborhoods. Where an additional station is not possible, work with the transportation agency to improve response times to underserved areas.5

  • Work with banks within ½ mile of project site to be signed up with Bank on San Francisco.6

  • Promote collaboration between the Fire Department, the Department of Building Inspection, and property owners to improve the fire safety of buildings in low-income neighborhoods through electrical upgrades, structural improvements, and installation of sprinklers.7
b. Neighborhood completeness indicator for key retail services

Benchmark: Is the project within 1/2 mile of an area that has 9 out of 12 common retail services that contribute to neighborhood completeness?

Neighborhood serving retail includes: auto repair, banks/credit unions, beauty salon/barber shop, bike repair, dry cleaner, eating establishments, gym/fitness center, hardware store, laundromat, pharmacy, retail food market (including supermarket, produce store, and other retail food stores), entertainment (e.g., video store or movie theater).
c. Proportion of population within 1/2 mile from bank or credit union Benchmark: Is the project within 1/2 mile of a bank or credit union?
d. Proportion of land zoned for commercial and residential uses No identified development target
e. Location of fire stations Benchmark: Is the project within a 5 minute response time by a nearby fire station?

Health-based Rationale

  • Neighborhoods with diverse and mixed land uses can create proximity between residences, employment, and goods and services, reducing vehicle trips and miles traveled and increasing active transportation such as walking and biking.8
  • Everyday retail destinations that are accessible by walking increases physical activity.9
  • Retail development in the context of mixed-use design generates natural public surveillance. Crime reduction and surveillance improves levels of perceived safety.10

  • A review of reviews commissioned by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence in London found that having a mix of retail within walking distance is correlated with increased walking and physical activity.11

  • Physical activity among children is higher when they have access to sidewalks, desirable destinations to walk to, and when children face fewer traffic hazards.11

1. California Reinvestment Coalition "The Financial Divide: An Uneven Playing Field - Bank Financing of Check Cashers and Payday Lenders in California Communities" http://calreinvest.org/system/assets/17.pdf
2. Los Angeles Times. "U.S. Bank Branching Into Poor Neighborhoods" http://articles.latimes.com/2001/apr/23/business/fi-54543
3. National Housing Institute "When Your Bank Leaves Town: How Communities Can Fight Back" http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/126/bankclosings.html
4. South Los Angeles Fast Food Interim Control Ordinance Approved by Council Committee http://cityplanning.lacity.org/Code_Studies/Misc/FastFoodInterim.pdf
5. San Francisco Office of the Controller "A Review San Francisco's Fire and EMS Functions." http://www.sfgov.org/site/controller_page.asp?id=24430
6. Bank on San Francisco. City & County of San Francisco. 2009. http://bankonsf.org/
7. San Francisco Department of Building Inspection: Housing Inspection / Code Enforcement Services http://www.sfgov.org/site/dbi_page.asp?id=76794 and PolicyLink: Code Enforcement. http://www.policylink.org/EDTK/CodeEnforcement/default.html
8. Ewing R, Frank L, Kreutzer R. Understanding the Relationship between Public Health and the Built Environment: A Report to the LEED-ND Core Committee. 2006.
9. Ewing R, Kreutzer R. 2006. Understanding the relationship between public health and the built environment. A report prepared for the LEED-ND Core Committee. U.S. Green Building Council. Available at: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=77&.
10. Singapore National Crime Prevention Council. 2003. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Guidebook. http://www.ncpc.gov.sg/pdf/CPTED%20Guidebook.pdf
11. Bauman A, Bull F. Environmental Correlates of Physical Activity and Walking in Adults and Children: A Review of Reviews. London: National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence; 2007.