"Blue Zones" are areas in the world where people live longer, healthier lives. Dubuque is one of 54 Iowa communities that have applied to be one of 10 communities selected to serve as models for other communities.
The Blue Zone project is part of a state initiative to make Iowa the Healthiest State by the year 2016 as measured by the Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index®. The Healthiest State Initiative is a privately led, publicly endorsed effort that will engage citizens throughout the state to improve their overall health and well-being.
To enhance Dubuque's application, the city needs 25 percent of the population to sign up to support the Blue Zones Project registering at www.bluezonesproject.com/citizens/signup by January 31, 2012.
The final 10 communities will be selected, in part,based on their citizens' passion and interest as demonstrated by online registrations at http://www.bluezones.com or texts of "BZP" to 772937. Dubuque residents are encouraged to ask friends and neighbors to join them in supporting this effort.
Residents of competing communities can see how their community compares to others in the state by visiting the Blue Zones Scoreboard http://www.bluezonesproject.com/scoreboard. Updated daily, the graph displays how much citizen support each city has received.