WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today's children spend less time playing outside than any previous generation, but 213 cities and towns, including Longview, earned recognition from national non-profit KaBOOM! as 2012 Playful City USA communities for their efforts to increase play opportunities for children.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, play is critical to healthy brain development. It allows children to use their creativity while simultaneously developing imagination, dexterity and physical, cognitive and emotional strength. Yet today's children spend less time playing outside than any previous generation in part because only 1-in-5 live within walking distance of a park or playground. The resulting play deficit is having profound consequences for kids physically, socially and academically.

Presented by The Humana Foundation, Playful City USA is a national program advocating for local policies that increase play opportunities for children and is a key platform in combating the play deficit.

LONGVIEW, Wash. -- Commerce Avenue should be a safe and attractive destination point that strengthens the downtown Longview economy. That's the conclusion of the 2011 Downtown Action Agenda adopted last year by the City of Longview. Now, the City is hosting a two-day streetscape design workshop on Feb. 15-16 to move that vision to reality.

Urban designers will be on hand at the workshop to capture peoples' ideas visually and create preliminary designs for a new look for Commerce Avenue. The workshop will be held in the Korten Building, 1400 Commerce Ave. in downtown Longview.

The workshop will be open continuously from noon to 8 p.m. Feb. 15 and again from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 16.

"The workshop offers a unique format for people to see their ideas captured in real time," says Steve Langdon, planning manager. "You can drop in just once for an hour, or come by several times over the two days to see designs evolve."