The master-planned community Rancho Sahuarita, located near Tucson, Arizona, and developed and owned by Sharpe & Associates, was designed with healthy living at the forefront.
The lake’s clubhouse provides residents with numerous opportunities for physical activity, including a 6,000-square-foot fitness center, dance and aerobic studios, splash park, and lap pool. The clubhouse also features an outdoor “adventure park” with tennis and basketball courts, a mini golf green, and a children’s playground. Homeowners association dues cover more than 50 different fitness classes offered in the clubhouse, including tennis, basketball, ballet, karate, and yoga.
An extensive network of recreational amenities, such as a ten-acre lake with an adjacent park and walkable promenade, encourage physical activity. The development maintains two large parks complete with pools, as well as smaller parks throughout the grounds with volleyball courts and play equipment for children. Forty miles of paved walking paths and bicycle trails, including a kid-friendly safari trail with life-size bronze animals, connect residents throughout the community.
Rancho Sahuarita has partnered with Carondelet Health Network to maintain an on-site primary and urgent care facility, as well as to offer programming that encourages physical activity and a healthy lifestyle, like a children’s summer camp and a health and wellness lecture series.
New Columbia is a HOPE VI mixed-income and mixed-use public housing project in Portland, Oregon. Developed by the Housing Authority of Portland (HAP), the $151 million master-planned neighborhood is located on an 82-acre (33-ha) site–formerly the home of the troubled Columbia Villa public housing project–and features 854 residential units including public housing, affordable rentals, seniors’ housing, and both market-rate and affordable homes for sale. New Columbia also comprises the Community Campus, a $20.2 million project anchored by a new public elementary school, a Boys & Girls Club, and a new wing and gym for a city-owned recreation center. The project incorporates a number of sustainable measures: 82 percent of building materials were recycled, a sustainable stormwater management system was installed, and three structures–the elementary school and two mixed-use buildings–achieved LEED certification. HAP, a public corporation, owns and operates the public housing units in Portland that are directly subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The housing authority, founded in 1941, also develops and acquires its own affordable housing stock: altogether, HAP oversees 6,200 residential units and is the largest provider of affordable housing in the state of Oregon. HAP also offers HUD-funded Section 8 rent assistance and administers approximately 8,000 Section 8 vouchers, an important function of any housing authority and a critical source of revenue.
