Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors disproportionately affect African Americans. Physical activity (PA) can reduce the likelihood of developing several CVD risk factors and reduce their effects when present. African Americans have a relatively low rate of PA participation. PURPOSE: This research explores the relationship between PA and a subject's neighborhood perceptions, assessments of conditions of the dwelling where the subject lived, and the block on which the dwelling was located. METHODS: African American Health (AAH) project data were used. AAH is a population-based study of 998 African Americans aged 49 to 65 years who lived in urban areas of St. Louis, MO, with a wide range of built environmental characteristics. The seasonally adjusted Yale Physical Activity Scale (YPAS) was used to assess PA. Contextual measures were: Neighborhood desirability measured with a self report of the neighborhood as a place to live, general feelings, attachment, and safety from crime; interviewer block face assessments of the streets, yards, sidewalks, noise, air quality and condition of other houses and buildings in the neighborhood; and interviewer in-home assessments that rated furnishings, cleanliness of the dwelling interior, physical conditions of the interior of the home, condition of the outside of the dwelling, and a global rating of the dwelling. YPAS was regressed on the three contextual measures, and demographic, socioeconomic, health conditions, and physical measures (e.g., physical function, performance and falls) (N=979). RESULTS: Physical activity was positively associated with interviewer global ratings of the dwelling (p<0.01) and ratings of the condition of houses and other buildings in the neighborhood (p<0.01). Physical activity was lower among those with hypertension, worse lower body function, and those who had a fear of falling. PA was not associated with neighborhood desirability or any other covariate in the multivariate model. CONCLUSION: This unique, large sample of African-Americans suggests that residents of homes with better objective interior, exterior, and block-face ratings are more physically active. These findings identify associations worthy of additional research and potential targets for environmental interventions to improve PA in this population.