Suburbia, health, and walking

Why cul de sacs are bad for you health

Having moved out of southern New Hampshire's sprawling ex-urbs, I see a lot of truth in the article. I became accutely aware of the fact that there is no choice but to drive if you live in a cul de sac neighborhood when I spent a month home from Ukraine last winter.

I'd gotten used to stepping out of the house and strolling down to the corner store, or taking a ten minute walk to the market. Having to drive everywhere, while I knew to expect it, was still a shock. Say I wanted to by some chips and a beer, in Ukraine's walkable cities this would be a simple 5 minute errand - out the door and back (not withstanding whether or not beer and vodka really should be sold in every little store). In NH, you have to roll the car out of the garage, shut the garage door, drive 15 minutes, and navigate your way through a Shaws supermarket - then repeat the process to get home. I really felt hemmed in.

That might be hard to imagine given the symbolism of cars, the open road, and freedom in American culture. But once you get out and live in a walkable city, you'll see that that koda-chrome picture isn't all it's made out to be. Geography really does make a difference in people's lives and health.