Van Schoales is an education advocate, senior policy director at the Keystone Policy Center, and founding partner at Education Civil Rights Now.
Denver Deserves Sidewalks (Initiated Ordinance 307 on the November 8 Denver ballot) would fund the construction and repair of sidewalks citywide, through a modest annual fee charged to property owners, so that everyone can get around Denver more freely and safely.
Children in America are facing a health crisis: according to the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, 31.6 percent of children ages 10-17 in the U.S. are overweight or obese. 27.2 percent of Colorado children in this age group are obese or overweight, ranking the state tenth in the U.S., down from two in 2003. Additionally, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study found that between 2016 and 2020, the number of children ages 3-17 years old diagnosed with anxiety grew by 29 percent and those with depression by 27 percent.
Numerous factors are contributing to these trends, including a lack of physical activity. Physical activity promotes physical and mental health and enhances academic performance, especially when movement is incorporated into a morning routine. Unfortunately, increased screen time and schools scaling back on physical education are keeping our youth sedentary.
A simple step to boosting physical activity among kids is walking. There was a time when a daily routine — commuting to school — provided morning exercise that mentally prepared kids to learn. In 1969, 48 percent of U.S. students either biked or walked to school, compared to 15 percent today. So few kids walk to school today because they lack safe places to walk.
Forty percent of Denver’s sidewalks are missing or substandard, meaning they are too narrow to accommodate a person using a wheelchair, a parent with a stroller, or just two people walking side-by-side. Additionally, 47 percent of streets in low-income areas have missing or substandard sidewalks. Many people in these neighborhoods — including our young people — depend on walking to access transit and other daily destinations, such as schools and parks. A 2018 study by Zen Drive assessed the safety of roads surrounding over 125,000 schools across the U.S. Denver received an F grade and ranked 63 among 64 Colorado counties on safety. Additionally, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for children 14 and under, and the number of total traffic deaths in Denver this year is on track to reach an all-time high.
Ordinance 307, also known as Denver Deserves Sidewalks, will create safe places to walk to schools and parks in every Denver community. Ordinance 307 will generate the funds to complete and maintain Denver’s sidewalk network, meaning the responsibility for repairing sidewalks, which currently falls to property owners at a cost many families can’t afford, will transfer to the City.
No parent or guardian should fear for their child being hit by a vehicle when walking in their community, especially when going to school. Voting yes on ordinance 307 is a step in the right direction to protect our children and to help keep them healthy and happy.