What are Livable Streets?

Livable Streets are safe, people-friendly, and support good health by making it easier and safer for people to be physically active while going around town. Livable Streets design may offer many benefits to cities, including:

- Fewer crashes and traffic injuries

- Improved visibility of people walking and bicycling

- Improved air quality

- Improved friendliness of the street environment for walking, bicycling, shopping, waiting for the bus, chatting with neighbors, or playing

- Improved connectivity amongst neighbors

- Increased visibility for local business owners

Street-scale improvements, such as sidewalks, bike lanes, and safe street crossings, also provide more opportunities to be physically active. Engaging in daily physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, and some types of cancer.

Increasing the opportunities to add physical activity into our daily routines also helps kids stay focused and do better in school. In fact, studies show that people who live in walkable neighborhoods generally get more physical activity each week and have a lower risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and certain cancers than those who live in neighborhoods that are less walkable. At a time when 75% of teens do not get enough physical activity, this is something we can all get behind.

See below for an example of how Livable Streets could impact OKC:

Livable Streets example

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hero_image_alt_text===Person on a bicycle
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thumbnail_alt_text===Person on a bicycle