THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 13, 1995 TAG: 9511130040
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
How can you tell if you live in a healthy neighborhood?
You might check the pizza-delivery index.
No such report exists, but that and other creative measurements could be in the works.
It's all part of a comprehensive look at quality of life in Hampton Roads neighborhoods, an effort going public at a ``Healthy Community Summit'' Tuesday at Norfolk State University.
The keynote speaker, Tyler Norris of the National Civic League based in Denver, is a leader of the nationwide ``healthy communities movement.''
He advocates a broad definition of ``health,'' one entwined with many other social and economic issues.
The conference will include sessions on strategies and measurements of community improvement in several areas: crime and safety, education and jobs, medical and health, housing and infrastructure, and aesthetics and recreation.
``What we're trying to do is build a healthy community, neighborhood by neighborhood,'' said Jackson H. Pope, a conference organizer.
``It's the concept of looking at citizens' well-being from the bottom up as opposed to from the top down.
``If what you're facing every day is the inability to order a pizza . . . you're very liable to define your well-being as wanting to be in a crime-free community, or at least where you can have a secure, safe feeling when you go home at night.''
Conference participants will discuss current and potential neighborhood initiatives, trading information and brainstorming.
``We're really hoping for some real cross-fertilization of ideas and that some opportunities are identified'' for sharing across city lines, said Barbara Shoemaker, another organizer of the conference.
Committees will be formed to continue building on the ideas, turning them into recommendations and priorities for the region, its cities and neighborhoods.
``I expect that one of the priorities of each of these committees . . . is just disseminating the information on the marvelous things that are taking place now, and trying to get some light on them so other people will pick them up and use them on a regional basis,'' Pope said.
``We'll also be attacking problems. There's no question we've got problems and we're not trying to hide them. We'd like to find out what they are and prioritize them.''
Conference organizers recently launched a newsletter to spread word about the many neighborhood programs already in operation across Hampton Roads.
The conference and the newsletter are under the auspices of Plan 2007, a regionalism project spearheaded by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and aimed at diversifying and expanding the economy.
The neighborhood component of Plan 2007 won't create jobs, but it seeks to make the region a better place in which to live and work - thereby attracting more businesses, said Pope, who heads the GSH Realty company.
``We'd like for Hampton Roads, in the course of the next three years, to be identified as a model wellness area. We'd like for people around the United States to look at us as a marvelous place to live because of all the things being done and all the civic spirit,'' Pope said. ``You cannot have a healthy region unless you add healthy neighborhoods together that make up that region. We're all interdependent.''
The conference will explore that interdependence two ways:
Geographically, by comparing neighborhood issues and improvement programs across city lines throughout the region.
Through networking, by inviting a cross section of Hampton Roads stakeholders such as neighborhood activists, educators, city officials, business leaders and medical practitioners.
``What we're finding is that there is not a great deal of awareness of the resources from city to city,'' Pope said. ``But there's a growing awareness of the need to share what's going on.''
The idea that citizens can organize to improve their communities is gaining momentum nationwide. But some research suggests that Hampton Roads residents may not be as confident of success as people elsewhere in the country.
In a February 1994 national survey of 1,000 people, 52 percent felt they had the power to create healthy communities, Shoemaker said. But among members of a local focus group, only 18 percent believed they could bring about change.
Tuesday's conference, Shoemaker said, may be a good place to start strengthening that sense of empowerment. ILLUSTRATION: Conference organizers are hoping the event will promote a
cross-fertilization of opportunities for neighborhood changes across
regional and city lines.
SUMMIT DETAILS
What: ``Healthy Community Summit,'' a gathering of community
leaders to discuss neighborhood initiatives.
When: Tuesday 1 to 4 p.m., open to the public.
Where: Norfolk State University, Mary Scott & Brady Dozier Dining
Hall.
Sponsor: Healthy Community Cluster Committee of Plan 2007, a
regionalism project spearheaded by the Hampton Roads Chamber of
Commerce.
For more information: Call 552-8930.
by CNB