Improving community environments requires a comprehensive approach that creates bridges across sectors. Over a period of roughly two years, stakeholders in the western unincorporated area of Alameda County (also called "The Eden Area") came together to identify, discuss, and debate the most important issues facing their communities and to develop a collective vision of livable communities and a prioritized set of actions.

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The city of Richmond, California was one of the first cities in the country to develop a comprehensive general plan element that addresses the link between public health and community design.

Developed by the Seattle Housing Authority, Cultivating Communities is a neighborhood gardening program for low-income communities in Seattle, Washington. The program has provided lead-free gardening plots, increased availability of healthy food, and promoted social connections and trust between community members.

In Escondido, California, an Interim Land-Use Policy has helped to support urban agriculture, increase access to fresh food, and create a community that supports healthy eating.

In West Fresno, a city with many low-income residents, the local school was lacking a gymnasium. Through a partnership between the New Millenium Institute for Education and the West Fresno Boys and Girls Club, students participate in physical education at the Boys and Girls Club gym to keep active and healthy.

In partnership with their local hospital and CPPW-funded health department, Kwik Trip convenience stores, headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin, joined the 500 Club, highlighting healthier alternatives to customers in all twenty-one of their La Crosse county stores.

With an alarming amount of vacant lots present within their city, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), along with other community and municipal partners, have developed a program to clean, green, and maintain these vacant lots in order to improve their community and health. In order to provide evidence that improvement of these vacant lots has positive effects on the community and health, PHS began a 10-year long longitudinal study comparing vacant lots against treated lots.

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.

Twenty-six municipalities in Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties are developing master plans to support healthy eating and active living, including developing sustainable partnerships between schools and parks.