How do we improve the overall health of Louisvillians?
During the last day of IdeaFestival, Mayor Greg Fischer invited people to his makeshift office at the Kentucky Center to share their thoughts on what it will take for Kentuckians to live healthier lifestyles.
Participants anonymously wrote their suggestions on colorful Post-it notes and stuck them to a board.
I talked to some of those people about their ideas. Here's what they had to say about improving the health of Louisvillians.
How do we improve the overall health of Louisvillians?
"There's not enough being done to address mental health issues. There are a lot of people walking around these streets with these issues and they don't know where to get help. There needs to be more funding for mental health programs, and promote them better and make them more accessible to everyone." — Tia Coatley
"In some other towns they put taxes on the big 32-ounce drinks, which discourages people from buying them." — Emma Asher
"Every morning I see long lines of students being taken in buses and cars to school. They should be dropped off and made to walk at least a half a mile to and from their modes of transportation, or walked to school." — Ken Wilson
"Diet, exercise and getting rid of cigarettes. Stop smoking in Louisville." — Melanie Christopher
"Plant more trees and more community gardens so that people can share in more vegetation throughout the city. More urbanization is killing out more of the vegetation so I think that will help." — Paul Krimm
"There should be more implications in regards to teaching kids in school about a healthy diet and exercise. Also, informing people about idling your cars sitting in traffic, and people are breathing that in. Informing people about better air and what to do to improve that." — Steven Cox
"Replace escalators with staircases. It's easier to maintain and people have to
move a little bit more." — Seth Steenken
"Better effort in school to get kids involved in P.E. again and make it more fun. The P.E. I did when I was a kid was a lot more rigorous than what they do know." — Stephen Hadden
"It's a balance of doing what you need to do for yourself and doing what you feel is right. Realizing that it's OK to be imperfect and that it's OK for others to be imperfect as well." — Skylar Oakley
"In Ireland we have a cycle-to-work scheme whereby we get a reduction on bicycles from local stores and we have the opportunity to pay off the bicycles over several months. This promotes a healthier lifestyle—a healthier lifestyle on transport to work and reduces carbon emissions." — Therese White
