# Healthy and Safe Neighborhoods

## We are safe, healthy, and connected to one another.

In 2050, residents breathe clean air, drink clean water, and eat heathy foods. Across race, ethnicity, immigration status, age, income, and ability, people live longer, healthier lives because they live in neighborhoods that are welcoming and safe, and in homes that are stable and affordable. Residents travel through the region conveniently and safely, and they enjoy nearby parks and open space. Neighborhood design promotes social connections and healthy choices. Strong schools, jobs, social services help residents lead engaged and healthy lives. Violence, pollution, racism, and other risk factors are rare and actively deterred. Affordable and high-quality medical and behavioral health care, with an emphasis on prevention, is available to all.

1. > Exposure to pollution has been minimized: no one lives in a place where air, water, or soil pollution could diminish life expectancy or quality.
2. > Through enhanced public health initiatives and investments, the region has reduced the rates of chronic diseases, mental health and substance use disorders, as well as the risks of communicable diseases.
3. > People in the region live, work, attend school, worship, and travel without the risk of violence, discrimination, or crime.
4. > People in the region have affordable health care, including stigma-free mental health, women’s health, and addiction treatment and support networks.
5. > Healthy food is readily accessible and affordable to all people in the region.
6. > Residents have the resources to remove detoxify, weatherize, and maintain their homes.
7. > State and local governments have the resources to maintain their parks, public squares, sidewalks, and open spaces.
8. > The Commonwealth has replaced most incarceration with effective efforts at prevention, rehabilitation, and restorative justice; incarceration rates no longer vary by race.


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