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Accomplishments

photo: volleyball game, image courtesy of Metropolitan Design Center Image Bank

Active Living Ramsey Communities Accomplishments

Active Living Ramsey Communities improves health by engaging the community to promote and create environments that are safe and convenient for everyone to integrate physical activity into their daily routine. Active Living Ramsey Communities collaborates to enhance infrastructure, influence policy, and transform systems.

St. Paul - Ramsey County Public Health’s Statewide Health Improvement Program and Environmental Health Section have committed funding through December 31, 2011.

The following summarizes Active Living Ramsey Communities Initiatives.

Adopting Active Living Principles into Comprehensive Plans

Most cities in Ramsey County incorporated Active Living principles into their 2010-2030 comprehensive plans, as did Ramsey County, impacting the way all of these municipalities and Ramsey County do planning and land use.

Go Ramsey Communities – GIS Mapping Web Portal

Active Living Ramsey Communities has collaborated with 14 municipalities to develop a shared bike, pedestrian, and recreational facilities data model which inventories over 40 different recreational features on the new Go Ramsey Communities Mapping Portal that people can search, review, and create “green spaces and fun places” to be physically active in Ramsey County.

Standardized Active Living Trail & Recreation Data Model

Active Living Ramsey Communities developed a standard bike, pedestrian and recreational data layer model, which means that maps used by different units of government can be combined and standardized into one comprehensive map where a “trail” in one area is comparable to a “trail” in another area. ALRC is also helping to lead efforts to develop a standard data model statewide to make the same thing possible throughout Minnesota.

2011 Bike and Pedestrian Facilities Map

Active Living Ramsey Communities creates and updates printable municipal and county bike and pedestrian facilities maps. Residents and visitors can print these maps off of a computer. Municipalities, Ramsey County, and the State use these maps to identify gaps in the transportation system and to plan and prioritize work to close those gaps and build new facilities to make it safe to bike and walk. These maps are used by bikers and pedestrians to identify safe connections and routes to get them where they want to go, using “active transportation.”

Allina Healthcare Partnership/ HealthPartners Partnership

Active Living Ramsey Communities is collaborating with health care organizations ranging from bringing a fitness zone to the County, bringing awareness to the Go Ramsey Communities web portal so that doctors can offer it to patients as a resource, and now working to get doctors to writing prescriptions for physical activity in lieu of pharmaceutical prescriptions.

Multimodal Transportation Initiative

Over the next five years, Ramsey County, Minnesota is making one of the biggest transportation investments in Minnesota's history. Active Living Ramsey Communities is leading efforts with metro elected leaders, practitioners and advocates, Mn/DOT, and Metropolitan Council to create and realize a shared vision of a safe, efficient, and accessible multi-modal transportation system which includes biking and pedestrian systems and facilities in Ramsey County, the Metropolitan Area, and Minnesota.

Walkable Community Workshops

Initiated and ran a week-long series of eight community workshops throughout Ramsey County, in 5 cities, attended by more than 200 community leaders, elected officials, and county and city staff. Led by the National Center for Bicycling and Walking, these workshops were an opportunity for residents and staff to problem-solve infrastructure and safety issues in their communities. ALRC later led our own walkable community workshops and trainings for municipalities to conduct their own.

Be Active! Be Green! Recycling Bench Initiative

The Be Active! Be Green! Recycling Bench program creates physically active friendly environments for the elderly, people with physical disabilities, and people with small children by placing benches made of recycled materials in a series of corridors and trail loops, connecting destinations throughout the County; 68 benches have been placed so far, with another 200 additional benches planned for placement throughout Ramsey County in the fall of 2011 and spring of 2012.

Ramsey County Volunteer Engagement and Recognition

Local leaders, practitioners, and advocates have been recognized for volunteering over 4,000 hours annually, leading to extraordinary results for Ramsey County. There are now over 1,000 subscribers to the Active Living Ramsey Communities distribution list.

“Ramsey County, Inc.” County-wide Active Living Initiative

Fifteen Ramsey County Departments participated in planning and implementing county-wide initiatives. The Sheriff’s Department, the WIC program, and Community Human Services each received funding to implement their plans to foster greater physical activity as a part of a worksite wellness initiative and make changes in systems. The project also focuses on services provided to citizens to help them be more physically active. Fifteen departments participated in the planning and implementation process, and some changes were made without budgets, for example, secure bike parking was made available for more Ramsey County employees.

Ramsey County Library Active Living Initiative

Active Living Ramsey Communities partners with Ramsey County Library system on an “Active Minds, Active Lives” initiative, embedding physical activity promotion into the current library system.

Active Living Ramsey Communities Website

Active Living Ramsey Communities’ website engages the community, enhances communication, and supports Active Living Ramsey Communities initiatives.

Communication, Marketing and Social Media

Active Living Ramsey Communities is implementing a comprehensive social media marketing plan to increase physical activity and improve health. They have over 600 friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter, and are promoting Active Living initiatives, the Go Ramsey Mapping Portal, and Ramsey County Park facilities as an opportunity to be active. This marketing plan is a prototype for other departments in the county. Active Living, Parks and Recreation, Environmental Health, and IT have all worked collaboratively to promote the Go Ramsey Communities Mapping Portal.

Ramsey County Active Living Maps

Active Living Ramsey Communities map promotes Ramsey County recreational facilities and the Go Ramsey Communities Mapping portal as a way to be physically active, close to home or work.

MN Green Corps Initiative

Active Living Ramsey Communities collaborated with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency through its Minnesota GreenCorps program to advance its multimodal transportation initiatives.

White Bear Lake Green Step Cities

Active Living Ramsey Communities is collaborating with the City of White Bear Lake in their application to become a Minnesota Green Step City. They will become a model for other Ramsey County Communities.

Wayfinding Master Plan

Ramsey County, through its Parks and Recreation Department, is in the process of developing and implementing a Wayfinding Master Plan for Ramsey County Regional and County Park systems.

Highway 96 Bike and Pedestrian Facility Improvements

Active Living Ramsey Communities engaged the public, which resulted in Mn/DOT improving infrastructure for pedestrians and people who bike on Highway 96 in the City of White Bear Lake.

Snelling Avenue Bike and Pedestrian Facility Improvements

Active Living Ramsey Communities results to date include Mn/DOT’s commitment to:
Perform a safety audit that includes pedestrians and people on bikes.
Listen to the community and incorporate treatments into these and other preservation projects to increase safety for pedestrians and people on bikes.

Saint Paul Union Depot Pedestrian and Bicycle Accessibility Inventory

Active Living Ramsey Communities has done work to help ensure pedestrian and bicycle facilities and system planning are incorporated into the development plans of the St Paul Union Depot’s multimodal transportation hub.

Highway 61 Bike and Pedestrian Facility Improvements

Active Living Ramsey Communities is engaging the public and working with Mn/DOT to create safe, efficient, and accessible bicycle and pedestrian facilities on the upcoming restoration project.

Trout Brook Trail - Cayuga Bridge Project Bike and Pedestrian Facility Improvements

Active Living Ramsey Communities is working with key stakeholders to ensure the current $150 million 35E/Cayuga Bridge project incorporates safe, efficient, and accessible bicycle among planning agencies. Active Living Ramsey Communities is also working to extend the Trout Brook Trail so there is a connection from the Union Depot to the northern part of the County.

White Bear Lake Active Living Campaign

This project goal is to encourage residents of White Bear Lake to use their city’s existing pedestrian and bicycle facilities to replace short trips to local businesses and key destinations.

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2015 N. Van Dyke Street · Maplewood, MN 55109
(651) 748-2500 phone · 748-2508 fax
alrc@co.ramsey.mn.us · activelivingramseycounty.org
Connie Bernardy, Active Living Ramsey Communities! Director

Business Hours: Monday - Friday (8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.) | Closed Saturday, Sunday and holidays