Can Miami Beach be a healthier place to live? Here's how a ‘Blue Zone' works

Miami Herald

11-02-2025

As Dan Burden walks along Miami Beach's oceanfront, inhaling the salty ocean air, he's struck by how lively it is on an early February morning, with bicyclists, runners and dog walkers.
South Pointe Park is just one of many landmarks the walkability expert sees during a tour of the city.
Miami Beach Vice Mayor Tanya Bhatt and city workers, serving as tour guides, share the history behind the sites, including Versace Mansion on Ocean Drive, where Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was murdered in 1997, and the famed 5th Street Gym where boxer Muhammad Ali trained.
They tout the city's amenities meant to encourage people to walk, exercise and socialize, including the fitness equipment at Muscle Beach, bowling and ice skating at the city's recreation center, events at the Lincoln Road pedestrian mall.
But they also talk openly about the challenges the city faces with traffic — including a legal battle over the city's pedestrian plaza on Ocean Drive, development, affordability and food insecurity.
That's why Burden and his team are in Miami Beach.
READ MORE: Miami Beach to remove Ocean Drive bike lane, pedestrian promenade. Here's the timeline
What is Blue Zones?
The touring experts, each specializing in different areas, are part of Blue Zones, a company founded by Miami Beach resident, National Geographic Fellow and longevity expert Dan Buettner.
Many may recognize Buettner from the Emmy-award winning docuseries 'Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones.' The Netflix series, based on Buettner's ongoing worldwide longevity study, introduced viewers to the diets and lifestyles of centenarians living in the world's five Blue Zones, areas where people live the longest and healthiest lives.
The company has used Buettner's research to help more than 90 communities across the country start sustainable policy changes across businesses, schools, social networks, faith-based communities and neighborhoods to encourage healthy choices.
Miami Beach has tapped the company to be its personal trainer and life coach as it seeks to become the world's next Blue Zone.
Miami Beach city commissioners voted unanimously in June to set aside $220,000 for the assessment and work needed to turn Miami Beach into a 'Blue Zones' city. The funding will cover the six-month assessment, the development of a plan for the city, and the crafting of a proposal for a five-year partnership with Blue Zones, according to city documents. The city plans to also seek local sponsorships to help fund the program.
'You can build for people or against them,' Burden, who served for 16 years as Florida's state bicycle and pedestrian coordinator and is now one of Blue Zone's infrastructure experts, told the Miami Herald as he examined the city's streets, intersections and traffic flow.
The Feb. 5 tour took the team of experts across Miami Beach's neighborhoods and into some of its parks and schools. It was the official launch into the six-month assessment that will include meetings and focus groups with more than 200 people across the city.
Once Miami Beach's assessment is complete, Blue Zones workers will create a blueprint for the city of changes that can be made through the years to help improve the 'Life Radius,' which is the area close to home where most people spend 90% of their lives.
If all goes well, Miami Beach could be the first city in South Florida to receive a Blue Zones certification, which means the community has started policies and initiatives designed to promote healthy lifestyles. Several other cities in Florida have already received or are in the process of becoming Blue Zones-certified.
What Blue Zones is pursuing
In getting familiar with Miami Beach, the Blue Zones team wants to see what is and isn't working, where people spend most of their time, and what type of amenities and healthy choices people have access to.
During visits to schools including Miami Beach Fienberg-Fisher K-8 Center, where the majority of students walk to school, and Miami Beach Senior High, Blue Zone experts asked about traffic safety features for kids walking and biking to school, along with health, wellness and nutrition for students and workers.
At Hebrew Academy, school officials suggested adding a crosswalk in front of the new school building due to heavy traffic and the soon-to-open Bayshore Park next door. Bhatt said the city would handle it.
'That's what Blue Zones is all about,' one of the experts said of the real-time example.
But it's not just traffic issues Blue Zones is paying attention to.
As the tour bus traveled across city neighborhoods, Claudia Morales inquired about how close residents live to affordable grocery stores, farmer markets, community gardens, food pantries and healthy food choices.
Understanding where and how people get their food in a community, what type of food insecurity exists in neighborhoods, and whether people have affordable access to nutrition education and healthy food choices is critical to the process, according to Morales, one of Blue Zone's food and nutrient experts.
Partnerships and volunteer opportunities were also key areas of interest for the group. But the real work begins in meetings with people who live and work in the city to see their wants and needs.
On Thursday, Feb 6, during a focus group with parents, teachers and public and private school and early childhood program representatives, the discussion zeroed in on the high levels of stress and anxiety among students, teachers and parents, as well as the sedentary lifestyle of young people. Traffic concerns surrounding pick-up and drop-off times and a desire for better food quality at public schools also emerged.
'It's not about changing Miami Beach,' said Kelsie Cajka, transformations operations director for Blue Zones. 'It's about enhancing it.'
What comes next for Blue Zones and Miami Beach?
While it will take several months for Blue Zones to craft its recommendations, there is good news for Miami Beach. The Blue Zones team indicated that the city has a solid foundation for its wellness journey. Once the six-month assessment of Miami Beach is complete, Blue Zones workers will create a blueprint for the city of changes that can be made through the years to help improve life.
The wellness plan that will be created for Miami Beach, which attracts millions of tourists a year and has more than 79,000 residents, is expected to 'look like nothing that we've ever done before because Miami Beach is so unique,' Danny Buettner, the founder's son and the current executive vice president and chief development officer of Blue Zones, told the Miami Herald in a recent interview.
But becoming a Blue Zones-certified community doesn't happen overnight. The city will need to get a certain percent of schools, businesses and other key community hubs on board to make any necessary changes.
Bhatt's mind is also already racing with ideas after the tour.
'I keep hearing questions about sort of Farm to Table initiatives and other kinds of food insecurity initiatives and healthier eating,' Bhatt said. 'And I think that's a real opportunity for improvement.'