Blue Zone Project: South Bay beach cities

Students take a ‘Walking School Bus’ to class in Redondo Beach, just one of the ways the city is encouraging residents to live heathier lives.

With the Walking School Bus program, kids are dropped off about a mile from school to walk the rest of the way, and parents can join the “bus.”

If residents go to a class in Alta Vista Park, there are incentives like a gym discount and a chance at other prizes.

Children were close to the stage during a packed hour of Zumba exercise.

Zumba class at Redondo Beach’s Alta Vista Park.

All summer, free Zumba classes in parks draw as many as 500 people of all ages and backgrounds to a park for an evening hour of exercise.

The group effort by Beach Cities Health District, Center for Health & Fitness, AdventurePlex, Blue Zones Project and the City of Redondo Beach to promote health, physical activity and community connections.

Colin Lynch was one of a handful of men participating in Zumba in the park.

Guest instructor Nahid Mohammadifar gets the crowd sweating during an hour of Zumba.

Kim Tran, Carlos Ramirez, Lara Priest and Jessie Marshall, who all live in the South Bay, celebrate with high-fives after finishing a stage of the Zumba class.