From Berks Nature
Photo courtesy of Pau Casals on Unsplash
The Nature Place is nestled in the southwest corner of the City of Reading, surrounded by 100 acres of the city-owned Angelica Creek Park. A visit to the park and nature center can provide mental and physical benefits to people of all ages, and a visit to the park just got easier thanks to the Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority and Berks Nature.
We have become so busy in our daily lives keeping up with work, school, sports, and extracurricular activities that we sometimes forget to stop and smell the roses, literally. Stop to take a break in our own backyard, a forest, or a local park. Or, focus time on our bodies and being active in the outdoors. According to the Berks County Community Needs Health Assessment of 2013, our local community is trending higher in obesity rates than the average for Pennsylvania and higher than the average for the United States. Berks County also has a higher percentage (24.9%) of physical inactivity than the average for Pennsylvania.
Children are especially vulnerable to this, and this new normal is taking a toll on the health of our community. Unfortunately, in today’s world, the average American child is spending just 1% of their time participating in unstructured free play outdoors. While a national statistic, we collected local data through surveying 587 youth from the City of Reading, only to find similar results: 38% of the children surveyed indicated that they spend less than one hour outside on a daily basis, and sadly, 13% of this group spend zero time outside. The trend of screen time and generally not spending time outdoors is alarming and needs attention in this community for the health of our residents and the environment.
Berks Nature is committed to reversing this trend by encouraging time outdoors for residents of all ages. In an effort to reduce barriers to enjoying the outdoors, Berks Nature is thrilled to be included on BARTA’s Route 9 schedule, Mondays through Saturdays. BARTA’s Route 9 provides routine transportation to The Nature Place from Reading and back to Reading (to BARTA’s Transportation Center on Franklin Street).
“The entire community deserves access to nature and this beautiful public park. We are proud to partner with BARTA to provide public transportation to The Nature Place, the City of Reading’s park, and all of Berks Nature’s environmental education programs,” shared Tami Shimp, Berks Nature president.
More information about BARTA’s services and Route 9 to The Nature Place can be found here.
