People moved to the car bound suburbs for economic and cultural reasons. Cities are supposed to be cheaper due to economies of scale but they don’t deliver.
"Great urban environments force us to exercise more than suburban environments" is an incorrect first-order framing, even though it's one that I have used to at least two decades. What's remarkable about great urban neighborhoods is how it's possible to live a rich life WITHOUT moving very much.
I think history provides a better response to suburbia. When people walked for almost all everyday personal transportation, they did not "get more steps in"; rather, they managed their lives to minimize the distances they traveled. Urbanism is convenient and it's a time saver, although anyone could also choose the time savings on exercising more.
I get what you're saying. I honestly can go days getting abysmal steps in where I live in Berlin because, to your point, everything is close. But even the best urban neighborhoods (of which I'd argue I live in), you have to walk more and get more natural exercise than the way so many suburban American setups are. Growing up, I'd go from the house, to the car, we'd park, walk minimally into a restaurant, back to the car, back inside. It took until my adult years to realize that I felt terrible after eating some meals because I was practically immobile afterwards.
In short, I get your point. But there's plenty of data that supports the notion that our car-oriented infrastructure is contributing to our health crisis.
What I struggled the most with, was how hard is to walk anywhere. You need the car all the time.
People moved to the car bound suburbs for economic and cultural reasons. Cities are supposed to be cheaper due to economies of scale but they don’t deliver.
Fix that and people will return.
"Great urban environments force us to exercise more than suburban environments" is an incorrect first-order framing, even though it's one that I have used to at least two decades. What's remarkable about great urban neighborhoods is how it's possible to live a rich life WITHOUT moving very much.
I think history provides a better response to suburbia. When people walked for almost all everyday personal transportation, they did not "get more steps in"; rather, they managed their lives to minimize the distances they traveled. Urbanism is convenient and it's a time saver, although anyone could also choose the time savings on exercising more.
https://bnjd.substack.com/p/hotels-of-1880-houston-introduction
I get what you're saying. I honestly can go days getting abysmal steps in where I live in Berlin because, to your point, everything is close. But even the best urban neighborhoods (of which I'd argue I live in), you have to walk more and get more natural exercise than the way so many suburban American setups are. Growing up, I'd go from the house, to the car, we'd park, walk minimally into a restaurant, back to the car, back inside. It took until my adult years to realize that I felt terrible after eating some meals because I was practically immobile afterwards.
In short, I get your point. But there's plenty of data that supports the notion that our car-oriented infrastructure is contributing to our health crisis.