Success Story: Chattahoochee Hills, GA

Thanks to Chris Montesinos, Economic Development Director in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia, for sharing how his city leverages the City Health Dashboard to turn data into action.

Chattahoochee Hills is a small rural city in Fulton County, Georgia with a population of ~3,500 people. The residents of Chattahoochee Hills care deeply about sustainable development and clean living, with 70% of their city’s land to agriculture and environmental preservation.

How has Chattahoochee Hills been able to protect so much space? In part, by writing data-informed grants - using City Health Dashboard data.

We spoke with Chris Montesinos, Economic Development Director of Chattahoochee Hills, who explained how his team addresses their community’s needs: "When we look at public health and public safety, especially health, we look at the matrix in terms of (which) indicators are looking the most problematic. There are things that we can do to steer our public policy to address certain issues or indicators, and (we can) use the Dashboard as a benchmark of whether our policies are successful or not."

Chattahoochee Hills uses Dashboard data to establish baseline measures around food access, socioeconomic indicators, and health outcomes. Chris commented on the utility of the Dashboard data in setting community goals: "Certain areas where we might want to focus on food production or food access activities, to address certain chronic maladies or prevalent conditions - we're seeing this through the data.”

In February 2026, the Food Well Alliance selected Chattahoochee Hills as a 2026 Local Food System Plan Awardee. The city is developing resident-driven strategic plans to strengthen the local food system, and the grant will help launch community-driven projects to support local growers and expand access to local, healthy food. Chris described their mission: "What we're doing through the food service plan is trying to link underserved and probably quasi-food desert populations with our fresh produce and fresh product." The team of residents, growers, community organizations, and city staff used Dashboard data on Food Insecurity, Walkability, and Broadband Access to identify priority areas for their projects.

The Dashboard also informed Chattahoochee Hills's Universal Access Trail project – a collaboration between the city, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. Their mission was to provide an accessible trail designed to allow people of all ages and abilities to experience the local New RiverLands Park’s natural landscape. Dashboard visuals and metrics – including Physical Inactivity, Park Access, Obesity, and Diabetes – helped illustrate the need for and importance of providing safe, accessible outdoor spaces that encourage physical activity and connection to nature. The metrics informed decisions about the trail route’s location and inspired collaborative action.

Chattahoochee Hills exemplifies how Dashboard data can help illuminate specific needs in a community, support efforts to secure funding opportunities, and ground priorities in local data. Whether informing grant strategy or supporting the development of a more resilient food system, Dashboard data are now embedded in how Chattahoochee Hills plans and how it leads.