A diverse group of partners in South Los Angeles recently broke ground on a new Wellness Center and healing garden to serve Los Angeles Unified School District students and the surrounding community.

DeKalb County is working toward a healthier community with smokefree parks adn public spaces, safe routes for biking and walking, and improved access to fresh fruits and vegetables for schoolchildren and adults.

Slavic Village Development (SVD) is a community development corporation located in Cleveland, Ohio that works with the Broadway neighborhood. With a population consisting of mostly working class, middle to lower income families, Slavic Village Development was faced with the challenge of improving a community that undergoing increasing foreclosures and perceptions of a lack of safety. In 2003, SVD received a grant from the Active Living by Design program to begin an initiative to rebrand Broadway as "a community on the move."

The Communities United for Health coalition formed to create a "healthy zone" in the Shawnee neighborhood by limiting alcohol and tobacco promotional signage, increase adequate lighting, and decrease graffiti to positively influence perceptions of safety.

How communities are designed and function can promote -- or restrict -- physical activity and access to healthy, affordable food options for children and adults. Part of the Healthy, Active Multnomah County "It Starts Here" initiative aims to encourage the community opportunities for kids to be active before, during and after school.

Concerned about high pedestrian injury rates, residents of Cutler and Orosi in Tulare County, California identified and implemented solutions through a series of community wide forums, focus groups, and workshops.

Like many rural communities, Teton Valley faces increasing pressure to develop agricultural, farm, and natural lands to accommodate a growing population. In response, residents and advocates are advancing policy solutions to help preserve their natural resources while creating an environment that supports physical activity. Teton Valley Trails and Pathways (TVTAP) represents 500 active, dues-paying residents working to shape the valley so that it will continue to support physical activity opportunities.

With a primary goal of increasing pedestrian safety throughout the Atlanta region, this organization has won policy victories and manages an innovative web-based system that allows residents to report barriers to safe walking directly to the appropriate city or county agency.

A powerful coalition of 20 well-respected arts, culture and academic institutions revitalizes a cultural district by improving walkability through major infrastructure projects in Boston, Massachusetts. Although focused in a commercial district, their efforts demonstrate innovative roles for large-scale institutions in improving the built environment. Their work is focused on attracting African American and Latino pedestrians from nearby schools and communities.

Using data to back up their case and relying on high-level agency leadership, staff from the New York City Department of Transportation implemented a five-pronged intervention that reduced many deaths and injuries among elderly pedestrians on a busy thoroughfare.