By: Lucy Conery, Health Promotion Specialist, The Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo The WNY WALKS! Initiative launched in May of 2019 with a Downtown Community Walks Series, a successful Walkability Summit in June, and drafting a strategic plan to address regional walkability and regular physica...

By: Lucy Conery, Health Promotion Specialist, The Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo 

The WNY WALKS! Initiative launched in May of 2019 with a Downtown Community Walks Series, a successful Walkability Summit in June, and drafting a strategic plan to address regional walkability and regular physical activity. Since then, the WNY WALKS! Initiative has begun its advocacy to facilitate community culture change in our region. A major outcome of the WNY WALKS! Initiative include the formation of a Community Wellness Team (CAT). The CAT is made up of dedicated individuals from different sectors (both public and private), and this group facilitates the work of the WNY WALKS! Initiative. As a result of the WNY WALKS! First Annual Walkability Summit in June, two members of the CAT joined forces to start the Sunset Striders Walking Club. The Sunset Striders meet on Grand Island every Tuesday night to do a community walk, which consistently attract over 50 participants to enjoy a nice walk and the beautiful sunsets that Grand Island has to offer. WNY WALKS! also has collaborated with Rotary International and the Niagara River Greenway Commission to host a series of community walks along the Greenway. Both of these successes demonstrate the benefits walking has in local communities and their surrounding regions.

Walking as a form of regular physical activity has numerous health benefits, whether theybe physical, emotional or mental. Other benefits include economic development, environmental support/advocacy, and building community social capital and avoiding social isolation, which is an especially important health challenge in older adult populations. These all work hand-in-hand when it comes to building a healthy community and a healthy culture. A livable Buffalo, NY needs walkable/bike-able streets to support local businesses, increase social interactions, develop health-enhancing environments, and to increase quality of life. The WNY WALKS! team addressed these points at AARP’s annual NYS Leading on Livability Summit in September. Phil Haberstro and Lucy Connery of WNY WALKS! were joined by Karl Swarts of “Hamburg Moves” to discuss Walkability and Trails at the Summit. The presentation highlighted the success of the local Sunset Striders and the Greenway-Rotary collaborations, and was attended by many local, regional, and out-of-state (Ohio and South Carolina) participants of the Summit. The WNYWALKS! Initiative presentation echoed the theme of livability and highlighted the reoccurring topic throughout the Summit: walkable communities.

Multimodal transportation (which includes promotion of walking, biking, and use of public transportation) was, and is, a topic of community interest because of the multifaceted benefits it helps to facilitate. Cities and communities with accessible multimodal transportation develop economically, build social capital, and may have improved level of physical activity. The WNY WALKS! Team has been taking steps to promote this type of transportation by raising awareness, building capacity surrounding walking/walkability, promoting programs/activities, and advocating for policies that support walkability (which is integral in the facilitation of multimodal transportation).

The WNY WALKS! Initiative will continue to facilitate improved walkability and increased regular physical activity by supporting the city’s WinterMission initiative to be piloted this winter, as well as collaborating with local efforts to impact health outcomes in our region.

For more information on the WNY WALKS! Initiative, or if you’re interested in partneringand/or sponsoring, please contact the Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo at 851-4052 or BeActive@City-Buffalo.org.