GoDeKalb has a profile over Decatur’s new Active Living Director, Dan McGee. The position was created in conjunction with the Community Transportation Plan (remember it spawned that ridiculous Anti-Trolley website that linked to trolley accidents set to music?) and McGee filled the role back in December.

As perhaps the first city-appointed Active Living Director in the southeast, McGee is tasked with promoting and incorporating aspects of “active living” into all levels of community life, from limiting car use when running daily errands to promoting a wide array of city-sponsored sports.

Dan can better describe it than I can, so here’s a quote from the article…

“Active living is providing opportunities for people to have at least 30 minutes of exercise a day,” explained Magee who left his job as Director of Recreation for the city of Hapeville to take the Decatur job, less than 10 minutes from his central DeKalb County home. “That includes all traditional parks and recreational programming, like youth baseball, senior fitness classes, etc. but active living also includes the built environment, meaning, can you leave your house and walk to a park? Can you ride a bike to school? Can you walk to a grocery store and get exercise that way?

Now that you mention it…no, I can’t walk to the grocery store, primarily because I refuse to shop at Kroger. Give me a downtown Trader Joe’s, Publix or Whole Foods and I will simultaneously do squat thrusts and bicep curls all the way from my house to the produce aisle.

Actually…my whiny retort gives me an idea! I’m pretty sure that Dan frequents our site, since he introduced himself to me by email a few weeks back. So if you have any thoughts or ideas about what would get you off the web and onto the streets (in the non-prostitute sense) please share them here!

Also, you can learn more about the transdisciplinary field of Active Living here.

Good luck Dan! Can’t wait to see what you have in store for us!