LiveWell Awards the City of Northglenn its Highest Recognition for Building a Healthy Community
LiveWell Colorado is proud to award the Elite Status City recognition to Northglenn. The city achieves this milestone from LiveWell’s HEAL Cities & Towns Campaign for adopting five healthy eating and active living policies that help make it a healthy place to live, work, and play.
“I am very pleased that Northglenn has achieved Elite Status as a HEAL city. This is the result of dedication and commitment from the HEAL committee working toward achieving the goal of helping Northglenn residents live healthier and more active lives,” said Mayor Joyce Downing.
“Northglenn has made a significant investment in building a healthier community,” said Julie George, LiveWell Colorado’s director of the HEAL Cities & Towns Campaign. “The HEAL Committee that Northglenn has implemented has been a great asset to the work.”
There are four levels of the LiveWell Colorado HEAL Cities & Towns Campaign: Eager, Active, Fit and Elite. In order to qualify for Elite status, a city must have adopted at least five healthy eating and active living (HEAL) policies. The following are just a few of the policies adopted by Northglenn:
Active Community
Through City and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding and in partnership with Adams County Open Space, the city recreated Larson Park by replacing all playground equipment and adding outdoor fitness equipment:
In August of 2016, the Northglenn City Council passed a resolution adopting a traffic calming policy with the following goals and objectives:
- Improve neighborhood traffic safety;
- Preserve neighborhood character and livability; and
- Increase neighborhood involvement.
Healthy Workplace
In January 2017, city leadership distributed healthy meeting guidelines to all employees to support a culture of wellness and to increase access to healthy eating and active. Taking walk breaks or utilizing standing desks are examples of opportunities that employees take to be active during the workday by. The city also began offering healthy food and beverage choices whenever food and/or beverages are provided at City of Northglenn functions.
Healthy Food Access
The Northglenn City Council adopted the Northglenn Food Access Assessment in May of 2016. The plan was adopted as a policy-guiding document to ensure that recommendations to improve food access in the city are considered and integrated into other plans and projects.
In May 2016, the Northglenn City Council passed ordinances allowing residential keeping of backyard chickens and bees. The ordinances were supported by the Northglenn HEAL Committee as they allow residents to grow and access fresh, locally produced food.
In January 2017, city leadership supported an initiative to reach 100 percent healthier foods and beverages in all city vending and concessions that are available to the public. The guidelines for healthier vending were established in the City of Northglenn Food and Beverage Assessment, completed by Tri-County Health Department.
Forty-six cities are a part of the LiveWell Colorado HEAL Cities & Towns Campaign, which began in 2013. “We partner with LiveWell Colorado on the HEAL Cities & Towns Campaign because we believe a healthy community is a viable, sustainable community for future generations,” said Sam Mamet, Executive Director, Colorado Municipal League. Since the campaign began, municipalities have adopted more than 80 policies tied to healthy eating and active living across the state.
To learn more about Northglenn and their healthy living initiatives, please visit Northglenn.org.
