The path to active living: physical activity through community design in Somerville, Massachusetts.
BACKGROUND
Somerville, Massachusetts, an ethnically diverse, urban community northwest of Boston, presents opportunities and challenges for active living. With a dense street grid, well-maintained sidewalks, neighborhood parks, and existing Community Path, Somerville is very walkable. However, two major surface arteries traverse and bisect neighborhoods, creating pedestrian safety and environmental justice issues.


METHODS
Major goals included promoting increased collaboration and communication among existing active-living efforts; managing the Community Path extension project; encouraging Portuguese-speaking adults to incorporate daily physical activity; leveraging existing urban planning work to establish secure, attractive walking/biking corridors; and embedding active-living messages in everyday life.


RESULTS
The Somerville Active Living by Design Partnership (ALbD) successfully created a robust task force that was integrated with citywide active-living efforts, secured resources to increase infrastructure and support for active living, including city-level coordinator positions, and changed decision-making practices that led to incorporation of pedestrian and bicycle transportation priorities into city planning and that influenced the extension of the Community Path.


CONCLUSIONS
Partnerships must employ sustainability planning early on, utilize skilled facilitative leaders to manage leadership transitions, and engage new partners. Identifying, cultivating, and celebrating champions, especially those with political power, are critical. Working closely with research partners leads to rich data sources for planning and evaluation. Changing the built environment is difficult; working toward smaller wins is realistic and achievable.


CONCLUSIONS
The synergy of ALbD and other community interventions created a foundation for short-term successes and accelerated political-cultural changes already underway with respect to active living.
Burke
Noreen M
NM
Public Health Department, City of Somerville, Massachusetts.
Chomitz
Virginia R
VR
Rioles
Nicole A
NA
Winslow
Stephen P
SP
Brukilacchio
Lisa B
LB
Baker
Jessie C
JC
D001642:Bicycling; D019058:Community Networks; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003710:Demography; D004779:Environment Design; D015444:Exercise; D005381:Financing, Organized / Q000458:organization & administration; D015438:Health Behavior; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D008404:Massachusetts; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012574:Schools / Q000458:organization & administration; D016138:Walking