Blair, Oklahoma Walkability Workshop

IQC staff worked with the Jackson County Health Department and TSET Healthy Living Program to host a May 17 workshop focusing on walkability in the town of Blair, Oklahoma.

Blair, Oklahoma | Summer 2017
View the Final Report Below

On May 17, 2017, the Jackson County Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) Healthy Living Program invited the University of Oklahoma Institute for Quality Communities to visit Blair, Oklahoma. Blair is a community of just over 800 people located 10 miles north of Altus. The goal of the visit was to meet with community members about possible improvements to enhance walkability in Blair.

Jackson County TSET staff hosted a group of about 20 people from Blair and surrounding communities, including town officials, health agency employees, and students from the local school. IQC staff led the group in a walking tour to learn about walking destinations, walking routes, and obstacles to walking in Blair. The group discussed their experience on the walking tour over lunch and then used two maps to draw concepts for improving walking in the community.

This brief report provides an overview of ideas developed during the workshop, including assets and challenges for walking in Blair, and a series of priorities to improve walking in Blair:

  • Strengthen the transition into town to slow traffic on US-283.
  • Add and enhance pedestrian crossings of US-283.
  • Treat the school as a community campus.
  • Designate priority walking routes.