I'm a big proponent of using active voice whenever possible and appropriate. I know that in academia and other technical writing, passive voice is preferred and for good reason. But in fiction, if the goal is to bring a story to life, it makes sense to me that using active verbs and having the characters act rather than be the recipients of action would be a better choice.
That being said, I find that I automatically write in the passive voice and use a lot of passive verbs. I have to work hard to change that, so it's my personal challenge.
Lynn