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April 23, 2003
USA Today: City, suburban designs could be bad for your health.
This article in USA Today talks about how, since the 50s, they have been designing communities with the car in mind, not the pedestrian. Many cities are sorely short on sidewalks and crosswalks. The American dream became buying a big house with a big yard at the end of a cul-de-sac in a big, friendly neighborhood. Indeed, zoning regulations ensured that shops were not allowed in these suburban sprawls. The problem is, you can't walk anywhere. You have no choice but to drive. In this respect, living in a big city, where things are closer together and it is often easier to walk than to drive, may have quantifiable health benefits. There seems to be a correlation between cities which are very pedestrian unfriendly, and cities that are disproportionately (to the US avg) overweight.This issue is very similar to the decision in the 30s-60s to REMOVE mass transit in many major cities, assuming most people would just drive. LA used to have an efficient light rail system much like San Francisco's. Why bother when we can just drive? In hindsight, I wonder how much of this was youthful naivety given the newness of the technology, and how much as premeditated lobbying on the part of those who would benefit most. I don't know the answer, but would not be surprised if the latter were true, given those same industries records today. I'm appalled at the connections with big oil, big auto, and big pharmaceutical in our current administration.
The end question of the article intrigued me most as it dealt with whether Americans would even WANT to live in an environment that was more pedestrian friendly. As it turns out, the American dream MAY be driving home in your gas guzzling SUV and living your home life as a couch potato. A chilling thought in its likeliness.
Posted by wonko at April 23, 2003 06:10 PM
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