1. An Urban or Suburban Community (Population of 10,001+)

2. A Rural Community (Population of 10,000 or fewer)

1. Development or Transportation Project

2. Physical Environment of a Community, Neighborhood, or School

3. Policy, Plan, Codes, or Standards (existing or proposed)

4. Walkability, Bikeability, and/or Transit Access

5. All of the above

1. Elected officials

2. Laypersons and Community Members

3. Transportation or Land Use Planners

4. Public Health Professionals

5. School Officials

6. All of the above

Transportation choices in communities should be diverse and allow for a variety of modes. In addition to motor vehicles, communities should provide a host of additional and alternative transportation choices, including safe and accessible walking paths and sidewalks, bike lanes and paths for bicycling, and access to public transit and paratransit systems.

Housing options in a community should be diverse and affordable for residents and households within a wide range of economic levels, cultures, age groups, and physical abilities. By having a wide range of affordable housing choices, residents can comfortably live and work within their community.

New and/or infill development should be directed toward areas where public investments have already been made in infrastructure, parks, schools, and other facilities. In cities, this can mean focusing development on infill sites and abandoned brownfields; in towns and rural communities, this can mean clustering development around existing town centers and transportation nodes.

Communities should incorporate more compact design as an alternative to conventional, land consumptive development. This design requires integrating a mix of land uses (such as residential, commercial, and civic) into neighborhoods and communities. By locating a variety of community destinations in close proximity to each other, alternatives to driving - walking, bicycling, and public transit - become viable.

Communities should be planned with health as a priority and should be designed to make it easier for residents to live healthy lives. The design of a community should encourage positive health outcomes (such as enabling access to healthy foods) while minimizing the likelihood of adverse health outcomes (such as pedestrian injuries or asthma rates in children from air pollution).

Agricultural land and open space, both within and surrounding densely developed areas, should be preserved. In addition, biodiversity, ecological systems, and natural green space (or green infrastructure) should be integrated into development.