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How Scottsdale plans to help residents live to 100 with Blue Zone initiative

By
Health
Published August 18, 2026 4:26 PM MST
Published August 18, 2026 4:26 PM MST
Inside Scottsdale's Blue Zone effort
Inside Scottsdale's Blue Zone effort

Inside Scottsdale's Blue Zone effort

Scottsdale is working to become a certified Blue Zone community by promoting longer, healthier lives, and building that into daily routines. FOX 10's Steve Nielsen breaks down what this means for the city moving forward.

The Brief

    • Scottsdale is aiming to become a certified Blue Zone, integrating longevity and health practices into residents' daily routines.
    • Local organizations, including schools, restaurants, and resorts, are adjusting menus and workplace environments to support healthier lifestyles.
    • The city is currently 60% of the way toward its five-year certification goal, with leaders hoping to expand the initiative across other local cities.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Scottsdale is already one of the healthiest places to live in the country, but a global health initiative says the city can do even better. It is part of a push to transform Scottsdale into a certified "Blue Zone" where living a longer, healthier life is built into daily routines.

Local perspective:

Want to live to 100? There are a few select places in the world where that happens at a much higher rate, and Scottsdale is now trying to steal their secrets.

"For them to really lead by example really has helped," said Maureen Aldrich of the Blue Zones Project.

ZuZu restaurant brought out the dishes that help make it a Blue Zone-approved place.

"It's creating healthier choices on their menu identified with logos," Aldrich said. "What does that mean? What are the healthier choices I can choose from?"

What we know:

Blue Zones are named after a National Geographic project to find the spots on Earth where people live longer and healthier. Scottsdale wants in. 

"Our schools, our restaurants, our grocery stores, and our workplace where we think about we are activating and moving and shaking, and so that is where we want to make sure healthy choices become easier for our community at large so we can all live longer, better lives," said Sarah Kearney, the head of Blue Zone Scottsdale.

Blue Zone Expansion:

They are gaining momentum. Multiple businesses, resorts, restaurants, and schools have made changes to meet the Blue Zone criteria.

"Once our workplaces are committed, once our schools are committed, once our restaurants are committed, it means we have the opportunity to continue the work in a sustainability model and continue to support opportunities for what happy looks like, what healthy looks like, and what well-being looks like all throughout our community," Kearney said.

The Hotel Valley Ho was the first resort to sign on, making small changes to create a strong working environment.

"A lot of volunteer opportunities, employee recognition, and things you might not normally think about from an employer standpoint, but those things are significant to the ownership here," Aldrich said.

By the numbers:

They are 60% of the way to their five-year goal to make Scottsdale a certified Blue Zones community, and hoping to find more places to sign on.

"How can we make the area we spend the majority of our time the healthy choices and make little nudges throughout those places?" Aldrich asked.

What's next:

More than 70% of employees in Scottsdale live outside the city. Leaders hope to expand to other Scottsdale area cities, noting that is one way to spread the message.

To learn more, click here. 

The Source: Information in this report was gathered from Maureen Aldrich of the Blue Zones Project, Sarah Kearney of the Blue Zones Project, ZuZu restaurant, and Hotel Valley Ho.

HealthScottsdaleNews