Rochester
Rochester sits in Olmsted County 80 miles southeast of the Twin Cities. It is the third largest city in Minnesota with 97,000 residents and approximately 50 square miles. Rochester is home to the Mayo Clinic in addition to other major employers. It has 3,500 acres of parks and 60+ miles of trails.
Rochester is using funds from the BCBSMN Active Community Planning grant to incorporate policies, goals and regulations supportive of active living into the Rochester Urban Service Area land Use Plan and the Rochester Zoning Ordinance and Land Development Manual.
Project update:
The Rochester-Olmstead planning department is the hub for this Design for Health project. It is a unique entity since it acts as a consolidated city, county, and metropolitan governing body. The project is being staffed within the development review division, and much of their work is focused on incorporating active living principles into the development review process and within the zoning ordinances. The city is in the process of developing a steering committee for this project that will use the Rapid Health Impact Assessment to identify areas in the ordinance manual that can be strengthened to support active living and other health issues. The group will also offer suggestion on ways to development ordinances and amendments.
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