Creating Park Chelsea's Walking Trails
Park Chelsea is in the process of creating park walking trails. Each trails will be designed to incorporate the outdoor space opportunities that have been created by the NYC Parks Department's parks and playgrounds, , NYC Department of City Planning's Privately Owned Public Spaces(POPS) and NYC Department of Transportation's Public Plaza programs. . By doing so we will be integrating Chelsea's stand alone public outdoor spaces into a seating and recreation network for Park Chelsea's park walking trails.
Creating Age Friendly Park Walking Trails
You can walk further distances the more places that you have to sit along the way,” Block said. “That’s why we think benches are wonderful in communities...”- Dorian Block, of the New York Academy of Medicine link
Taking our cue from Dr. Block all of Park Chelsea's Walking Trails have been designed with places to sit on the trail.
In
the
The
NY Academy of Medicine Report Towards an Age Friendly NYC
, it was said-
“...The
lack of benches along public walkways was also mentioned frequently.
One focus group participant said, “There
used to be a place where we could just rest and sit together.”
Another reported, “We need more benches people can grab onto as
they walk down the street. You can see people gripping the
storefronts for stability.” Nearly two-thirds of respondents to the
constituent feedback form indicated that benches
for resting are “very important” to the well-being of older New
Yorkers..
To reach the goal of making our park walking trails Age Friendly, in addition to existing seating areas on the walking trails, Park Chelsea will be requesting benches to be scattered throughout our trails through the NYC Department of Transportation's Citybench program.
Good signage increases walking
Many people avoid walking if it requires them to navigate through an unfamiliar
territory. The sense of the unknown - how long will it take, where a street leads to -
creates ‘risk’, especially of getting lost or increased journey times. Legible London
I talked to a staff member at the Fulton Senior Center on 16th street, who said that a lot of people don't like to go below 23rd Street-Ranger Bob
Making Our Walks Interesting
"Several decades ago, when William H. (Holly) Whyte was doing his "street life" research and observing people walking in cities, he concluded that people will walk many blocks if the walk is interesting. Walk Appeal getting people to walk through the neighborhood
To this end we're going to try to work with local design schools to create interesting walking trails, where graphics exhibits will change on a regular basis.
Walking for Health
Regular activity, like walking, is hard to beat when it
comes to keeping yourself healthy. It lowers the risk
of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, arthritis
and osteoporosis, helps keep weight in check and
boosts your mood.-WalkBoston
There is much evidence of the benefits of walking. Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh recently revealed that overweight people who walked briskly for 30 to 60 minutes a day lost weight even if they didn't change any other lifestyle habits.
Another American study found that people who walked for at least four hours a week gained less weight (an average nine pounds less) than couch potatoes as they got older. Last year, researchers at the University of Colorado found that regular walking helped to prevent peripheral artery disease (which impairs blood flow in the legs and causes leg pain in one-fifth of elderly people).
Walking can even prevent colds and more
Because walking is a weight-bearing exercise, it can also help prevent the bone disease osteoporosis.
"Bones are like muscles in the way that they get stronger and denser the more demands you place on them," Knight says. "The pull of a muscle against a bone, together with the force of gravity when you walk, will stress the bone -- which responds by stimulating tissue growth and renewal."
Best of all, walking makes you feel good about yourself. "For people suffering from depression, walking three to four times a week for 30 minutes has been shown to enhance their mood," says Knight.
Link
Big Apple Senior Strollers
Walk NYC
s a seasonal, age-friendly, program that encourages New Yorkers of all ages to get fit while enjoying the outdoors. Reach your goal of walking 10,000 steps a day and meet other people who are also looking for the same fitness benefits.
walkNYC
walkBoston
See also Park Chelsea News walking Trails
