This page provides more information about the redevelopment challenges in Richmond, CA profiled in our 2010 podcast series, Rebuilding Healthier Neighborhoods.
Public Agencies
Contra Costa County Redevelopment, North Richmond
The county redevelopment agency works to improve the quality of life for residents in five project areas, including North Richmond. Working with Contra Costa Health Services, it created a new route to keep diesel trucks out of residential neighborhoods in unincorporated North Richmond. It is also working with the health department to integrate health in the North Richmond Specific Plan.
Contra Costa Health Services
Contra Costa Health Services works on a variety of health issues, often going beyond the traditional role of the health department in its approach to health inequities. One of its initiatives is an asthma coalition, which brings together public agencies and community groups to prevent asthma and improve the lives of people affected by it. In Planning Healthy Communities, it details how the physical environment impacts health in Contra Costa County and calls for public health advocates to take a bigger role in land use and transportation planning.
Background
North Richmond Specific Plan
The specific plan is a blueprint for developing a new community on 200 acres of historically industrial land in unincorporated North Richmond. The Contra Costa Redevelopment Agency is working with the county health department to incorporate public health into the planning process.
Deluged by Diesel
This study is the result of a partnership between Contra Costa Health Services, and a variety of community groups, and residents, who conducted a series of studies to measure the extent of diesel pollution in their homes and neighborhoods. The report also looks at ways to reduce diesel pollution in West Contra Costa County.
North Richmond Truck Study
Contra Costa Health Services, along with the redevelopment agency and several community-based organizations measured particulate air pollution inside North Richmond residents' homes and found that diesel exhaust from trucks was the biggest contributing factor. This report outlines the problem and suggests a range of potential solutions, including a new truck route that redirects big rigs out of North Richmond's residential neighborhoods.
Shortened Lives: Where You Live Matters
The Contra Costa Times examines health disparities in different parts of the East Bay, including Richmond, in this in-depth series. Using interactive maps, videos, and in-depth reporting, it explores why residents in some neighborhoods can expect to live 16 years longer than people in others.
Unnatural Causes
This PBS series looks at the effect of the social, economic, and physical environment on health and examines how socio-economic inequalities lead to poor health.
Additional Resources
Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative
This coalition of Bay Area public health agencies works to eliminate health inequities and build healthy communities. It has been instrumental in creating dialogue between public health departments and redevelopment agencies around the region.
Regional Asthma Management Project
RAMP works to reduce the burden of asthma by bringing together community organizations, government agencies, healthcare providers, and people with the disease. Its comprehensive approach involves improving both clinical care and addressing the environmental causes of asthma.
Healthy Development Measurement Tool
This evidence-based metric measures health in cities and can help evaluate whether existing designs and plans will benefit community health. It also offers ideas for making urban areas healthier places to live and work.
Environmental Protection Agency: Particulate Matter
The EPA regulates particulate pollution because when they're inhaled, particulates can damage the heart and lungs and cause serious health problems.