Updated: 'This is the Most Remarkable City': Hundreds Pack Blue Zones Cedar Falls Project Kickoff

Correction: A previous version of this article said over 25 percent of Cedar Falls residents had registered on the Blue Zones website. This was incorrect. The Blue Zones project had set a goal of having 20 percent of Cedar Falls' eligible population (ages 14 and above) register and complete a pledge action, which is 6,717 people. On Wednesday the project was over 25 percent to that 20 percent goal.

The previous version also said the kickoff happened on Thursday. This was a typo that should have said Wednesday.

Patch regrets the errors, and the incorrect information has been removed from the story.

Original article

Dan Buettner had high praise for Cedar Falls Wednesday night, as hundreds packed Cedar Falls High School's auditorium, overflowing into the balcony, for the kickoff of the Blue Zones Cedar Falls Project.

Buettner, the founder of the Blue Zones Project, said Cedar Falls was the perfect staging ground for Blue Zones.

"I could just cry, of joy," he said, looking out over the packed auditorium.

The Blue Zones Project seeks to increase lifespans and health by emulating practices found in the "Blue Zones" - the places in the world where people live the longest. The Blue Zones Cedar Falls Project and the sister Blue Zones Waterloo Project aim to help bring those practices to the Cedar Valley by working with city and business leaders and the public.

Buettner said city leadership, public enthusiasm and existing infrastructure, such as the wide network of recreation trails, mean Cedar Falls is already well situated to be a model Blue Zones community.

"The reason we picked you is we feel like you're ready," he said. "In many ways this is the most remarkable city not just in Iowa but in the nation."

That doesn't mean there isn't work to be done. Dan Burden, the executive director of the Walkable and Liveable Communities Institute, also addressed the crowd.

"This is a very advanced community. You're very close to the top," he said. "That doesn't mean you're where you want to be, but you have a good sense of how to get there."

He spent Wednesday in Cedar Falls, taking dozens on a "walking audit" to asses the town's pedestrian and bike friendliness. He said there are improvements to be made - he mentioned University Avenue, for example.

Making communities more walkable is a straightforward way to increase health, he said.

Buettner said such measures had increased life expectancies in Albert Lee, Minn., the first Blue Zones demonstration community.

"I guarantee you, you will be in the national spotlight," Buettner said, showing slides of national news coverage of Albert Lee.

He said earlier Wednesday, 21 people showed up for "radical Blue Zones makeovers."

"One guy weighed 500 pounds," he said. "I absolutely saluted his courage."

In the lobby before the event, local musicians the Brazilian 2Twins Band entertained, while attendees sampled snacks from Hy-Vee and Fareway, Cedar Falls' two Blue Zones-approved grocery stores, and registered on the Blue Zones Cedar Falls website.

Calling on even more of the town to join in, former University of Northern Iowa basketball coach Tony DiCecco spoke about a heart disease scare that changed his life two years ago and refocused him on his health. He said Cedar Falls residents shouldn't wait for a health scare to take action.

"What are you going to do for our kids? For our kid's kids?" he asked. "It's time. It's amazing what we could do, but not until you all say, 'It's time.'"