On Aug. 20, the Temple Health and Bioscience District Board of Directors formally adopted the Blue Zones Assessment, Readiness and Feasibility Report as guiding policy and roadmap for developing a community-wide wellness initiative.
This comprehensive assessment marked a critical first step in determining practical ways that Temple can improve community health through policies and investments that make it easier for people to make healthy decisions where they live, work and spend most of their time.
Over the last six months, more than 300 people from across Temple — including local businesses, government, community nonprofits, and schools — participated in the process. Of these individuals, more than 150 participated in one-on-one interviews or focus groups. This strong community engagement during the assessment process demonstrates the enthusiasm and readiness for a community-wide wellness initiative in Temple.
THBD appreciates the help that each member of our Steering Committee provided during this process, and we sincerely hope that we can continue to collaborate as we determine the next steps in advancing a community-wide health initiative.
KEY FINDINGS
The 232-page Blue Zones Assessment, Readiness and Feasibility report offers useful, detailed information about our community’s challenges and opportunities.
Among the key findings:
- Temple demonstrates strong community support for improving community well-being — The Blue Zones team found a ‘marked readiness’ for transformation across the community including City leaders, major employers, school districts, civic groups and non-profits.
- Poor community health outcomes demonstrate a need for well-being initiatives — Temple’s health metrics reflect the need for change, including rates of obesity, tobacco use, high blood pressure, and depression that are higher than many other metro areas.
- Temple should continue to aggressively pursue changes to the built environment that supports health and connectivity — Temple’s built environment reflects a dynamic mix of historic neighborhoods, a revitalizing downtown, major institutional campuses, and fast-growing residential areas—each offering unique opportunities to support health, connectivity, and livability. Many Blue Zones principles are already taking root through investments in parks and trails like Crossroads Park and Pepper Creek Trail, as well as economic growth in areas like Meta’s AI data center. While progress is evident, continued improvements—especially in aging infrastructure and walkability—are essential to ensure every neighborhood supports natural movement, access, and well-being.
- The community needs easier access to healthy food — Reliable access to affordable, healthy food is a key predictor of people’s dietary choices and risks for diet-related chronic illness. Many residents face systemic barriers to healthy food access.
- Many existing City and community initiatives and strategies align with creating a healthier community — The Blue Zones team also identified the gaps that we currently don’t have in our plans to meet identified needs.
NEXT STEPS
THBD was created by the people of Temple to help strengthen and expand the health-sciences sector that is vital to our economy.
Research shows that improving our community’s health is vital to attracting the companies, skilled workers and investment we seek. Realizing better health outcomes would also improve the quality of life, enhance worker productivity, and lower health care costs for people and businesses across the community.
Drawing on extensive community input and analysis, this report serves as a critical roadmap for a community-wide wellness initiative and highlights areas where Temple is already making meaningful progress. In the coming months, the THBD Board will evaluate our organization’s role in advancing key recommendations outlined in the report — with an initial focus likely to include placemaking, infill development, wayfinding, and other physical improvements in and around the medical district.
We will also work closely with community partners to determine the best path forward. THBD will continue to share updates as plans progress and encourages you to keep us informed of your organization’s next steps so we can align and support each other’s efforts.