Place matters.

Is your neighborhood walkable?  Are there sidewalks, bike paths, and pedestrian-friendly environments to support physical activity? Do the amenities in your community – banks, grocery stores, retail shops – feel connected and in close proximity to one another?  Are these amenities accessible by public transit? How is your air quality? Are there safe, appealing parks where you and your family can play? Are there thriving businesses, such as banks?

It’s hard for community members to stay healthy when residents fear walking outdoors in the evening, and are afraid to allow their children to go outside during the day, after school, or on weekends. A family’s health is adversely impacted when their neighborhood lacks a decent grocery store with fresh fruits and vegetables, or when smog or pollution compromises people’s ability to breathe.

By contrast, when the built environment  – buildings, parks, recreational facilities, transportation systems, and the other manmade landscapes in which we live, work, and play – offers clean, safe, healthy options, people thrive, families flourish, and neighborhoods prosper.

Researchers and advocates have increasingly focused on the way our cities, towns, and neighborhoods are designed, developed, and function, and what roles these factors play in reducing chronic health conditions such as diabetes and obesity. The housing policies we choose—our  transportation, community development and land use policies—all work in concert to influence how long we live, and how well.