Vision Statement
Program Development
The Community Health District team is striving to improve overall connections between the health services in the area of St. Alphonsus and the surrounding community of the central bench. There is a current disconnect happening between the hospital and the rest of the bench, so softening the street interface of the hospital area will help connect the community back to St. Alphonsus. One of our goals is to increase the connection and accessibility between St. Alphonsus and the surrounding central bench community, most notably the international market. Additionally, we seek to improve public perception of the hospital by improving hospital outreach programs. The use of outreach programs to improve the overall health of the community is also a top priority, and can be accomplished through the suggested improvements.
Our teams objective is to provide a stronger connection between the community and the hospital in order to provide access and amenities for community members, hospital visitors, and staff. What makes the health district special is its potential to become a major resource for fostering community health. The location of the densest health services falls in between residences and mixed use areas that offer commercial and retail services. This provides a unique opportunity for future connection and development between nodes and existing gaps in connectivity.
Partis
• Employment Services; Our design should include locations where job skills can be taught to help individuals gain employment. • Refugee Interpreters. There us an existing lack of interpreters at St. Alphonsus that forces refugees to search elsewhere for health services. • New community gardens that tie to parks and open spaces, as well as community programs. These uses for new open spaces can focus on becoming therapeutic gardens and/or horticultural therapy areas. • Defining St. Alphonsus as a Campus, improving accessibility/making it easier to navigate for pedestrians. (recommend parking structure to reduce sprawl) • Consistent design guidelines, uniformity in signage, maps, graphics, etc. . . . • Seamless transition into multi-modal transportation corridors. • Strong connection to the international market (increasing community outreach)
Interface
Community
Circulation
Connections
Concept Development Healthcare District in Relation to Surrounding Nodes
Healthcare District in Relation to Parks & Activity Hubs
• Explores existing grid system and nodes of interest in the Central Bench
• Spatial relationship between the health district and surrounding nodes • There is a gap in services around the health district, such as commercial and mixed use, but there are many services across the barrier of I-84 or towards downtown. • Blue= heavy commercial areas like shopping centers and malls • Green = existing park spaces • Red = density of health services • Black = circulation • What worked in this diagram was the gap that appeared in commercial services, and the window of opportunity to fill it.
• Shows connection from 1-84 through Boise to surrounding cities like Nampa and Idaho Falls. • Recognizes the proximity to downtown Boise and the Tank Farms • What worked in this diagram was the proximity from the hospital to nodes • The nodes shown to the left have been highlighted as the most vital to the scope of the project as it relates to the health district. Other nodes and activity centers may emerge upon further development and collaboration with other teams.
Community Health District - Boise Central Bench
LAEP 4100 - Caroline Lavoie -Thomas Terry, Yuning Fang, Po Yu Ho, Megan Criss
Concept Options & Ideal Concept Concept One
Concept Two
Concept Three
This concept was named “move-it”, where we looked at merging the health district node with the international market node, in order to increase the use of each. We also looked at improving Liberty street and the undeveloped internal street to its East as well as Curtis. .
This concept was named “improve-it”, where we focused on improving the connection from the health district to the international market via Liberty street.
This concept ran with the idea of “improve-it” but looked at Liberty, the internal street, and making a strong connection from Emerald to Orchard. This concept also ties in well with the proposed Green-Way Corridor concept.
Ideal Concept - Expansion of Healthcare District and Streetscape Improvements for Multi-modal Transportation 4 8 I
Franklin St.
Orchard St.
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Emerald St.
• The most ideal of all our concepts. This is a composite of all the good parts of all our previous concepts like connectivity to the proposed Green-Line Corridor, increased commercial opportunities, more accessibility through surrounding streets in the health district area. This concept also takes full advantage of the park location directly off Liberty. The development of the streetscapes down Liberty and the internal street will also foster a better connection to the International Marketplace for residents.
LEGEND Orchard Street/ Commercial & Retail
Street Circulation
Health District Services
Open Space south of St. Alphonusus - Potential Therapy Garden/ Fitness Park/small dining uses for residents and hospital staff/visitors
Residences
Liberty Park
Street-Scape - Complete Streets
International. Market
Community Health District - Boise Central Bench
Industrial Use - Tank Farms
Existing and proposed Food Services for hospital staff and community members
LAEP 4100 - Caroline Lavoie -Thomas Terry, Yuning Fang, Po Yu Ho, Megan Criss
Precedents & Inspiration Therapeutic Garden/Horticultural Therapy: • Lurie Garden by Piet Oudolf near Chicago Children’s Hospital • Large and proximate to the hospital • Therapeutic significance for users
Multi-Modal Corridors • Bulb-outs calm traffic and provide visual cues that multiple transportation modes are interacting
Softened Street Interface:
Accessibility
• Trees and wider sidewalks soften the edge between vehicular and pedestrian circulation • Bike racks, welcoming sidewalks, and green park space foster physical activity.
• Universally accessible bus stops and sidewalks • Sheltered Structures for Weather Protection
Community Outreach: • Whitney Community Center offers after school education programs for youth in the neighborhood • Prototype model of a LIV Boise initiative “Energize Our Neighborhoods”
Focus Areas of Plan4Health
Plan4Health Coalition • The Plan4Health community envisions the full integration of planning and public health where we live, work, and play. • The American Planning Association (APA) announced that APA the “Idaho Plan4Health Coalition” has received a $125,000 grant to focus on increasing access to nutritious foods and physical activity in the Vista Neighborhood. • The Whitney Community Center has served as a sort of [prototype model for the use of this grant funding, and has been doing exceptional in terms of accomplishing the goals of the coalition and serving the community.
How do we do it? Are there programs already available?
Nutrition • Community Gardens • After school programs with healthy snacks and meals • Teaching kids and adults how to grow , harvest and cook their own healthy foods.
• The Community Health District will be focusing on the Plan4Health focus areas. These are areas of emphasis that not only make sense for the community health district to utilize, but they directly effect the way the Central Bench community interact with their surroundings. Nutrition will educate the community and work to serve their health, while physical activity will also work to serve their health as well as their interaction with their environment.
Community Health District - Boise Central Bench
Physical Activity • Providing fitness opportunities in public spaces (fitness equipment) • After school programs that provide sports and other physical activities • Promoting activity in the community through events and special programs
LAEP 4100 - Caroline Lavoie -Thomas Terry, Yuning Fang, Po Yu Ho, Megan Criss