http://www.activelivingbydesign.org/

Active Living by Design is a national program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is a part of the UNC School of Public Health in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The program will establish and evaluate innovative approaches to increase physical activity through community design, public policies and communications strategies.

Community partnerships will be funded to develop, implement and sustain collaboration among a variety of organizations in public health and other disciplines, such as city planning, transportation, architecture, recreation, crime prevention, traffic safety and education, as well as key advocacy groups concentrating on land use, public transit, non-motorized travel, public spaces, parks, trails, and architectural practices that advance physical activity.

Active Living
"Active Living is a lifestyle that easily integrates physical activity into daily routines."

Active Living is the lost art or practice of actively engaging our physical environment. We have all heard the nostalgic anecdote of American cities that were once designed for and accommodated people. In that bygone era, public places, local stores, and transit stops were readily accessible by foot or bike, but today we see and experience a different story. This is the underlying premise of Active Living. Many communities in this nation have arguably become places without destinations and spaces without meaning. In other words, while we live there, we fail to truly "live" in them. We find it difficult, if not impossible, to walk or bike to any conceivable destination of importance, and few places actually encourage people to be active. How many times have you walked into a building wanting to take the stairs only to find (if you're lucky) them locked or so spooky that you decided to just take the elevator? Or have wanted your children to walk to school but didn't want to put them at the mercy of the expressway-like intersection near the school?

These are the challenges that Active Living by Design wants to overcome, and the opportunities it wants to create simply embrace the ideal of having choices to engage the built and natural environment with our feet or pedals. (Comments by Rich Killingsworth, MPH, Director of Active Living by Design. June 2002)

Contact Information
Active Living by Design
400 Market Street
Suite 205
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27516
Phone: 919-843-ALBD (2523)
Fax: 919-843-3083
Email: info@activelivingbydesign.org