Move This Way

Many communities are taking steps to retrofit their streets to promote walking and biking. Diverse types of places — urban, suburban, and rural — are addressing infrastructure gaps and working to build a continuous network of pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly facilities between key destinations.

These improvements increase opportunities for physical activity, create easier access to neighborhood resources, and can help strengthen the social fabric of communities. ChangeLab Solutions developed Move This Way: Making Neighborhoods More Walkable and Bikeable to explain how to use one set of tools – zoning and subdivision codes — to make your community more walkable and bikeable. It was designed to assist public health department professionals and advocates in their efforts to revise their local codes, but it may also be useful to other stakeholders routinely involved with updating and revising zoning and subdivision codes, including elected officials, planners, and local advocates.

Zoning and subdivision codes specify requirements for the design of future development, so language requiring bike and pedestrian facilities can create a major shift in the way roads are built and maintained in your community. The sample codes presented in this toolkit are meant to complement and implement other policies that may be needed to improve bicycle and pedestrian conditions in your community, such as comprehensive plans (also known as general plans), bicycle and pedestrian master plans, and complete streets policies.