Bill Owens, a 52-year-old small-business owner, loves his Seattle neighborhood of South Park for its racial and ethnic diveristy. Owens has become close to his neighbors of Vietnamese, Korean, Mexican, Guatemalan, and Jamaican descent. Yet owens and his friends are making himself sick by residing in South Park, an industrial area south of downtown Seattle that is home to more than 3,700 people.

Among the daily risks and challenges they face are limited access to healthy food, exposure to environmental toxins, and restricted transportation options. These and other burdens, including economic insecurity, weigh heavily on South Park residents.

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"In the United States, we have a very powerful narrative about the role of personal responsibility in determining your outcomes, particularly your health," says Brian Smedley, director of the Health Policy Institute at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C. "But we're finding that your zip code is more important than your genetic code in determining your health."

Read more at The American Prospect.