Living Near Trees, Not Just Green Space, Improves Wellbeing

Post by mrhappyunhappy » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 4:48 AM UTC

jdavis703 wrote: post #112

jnurmine wrote: post #83

Living near trees implies living in an area where space usage is prioritized for nature instead of the stacked concrete boxes most people (have to?) live in. It is likely a less stressful environment overall than places filled with just concrete walls, asphalt and, at best, some grass. Personally I find tree tops swaying in the wind oddly hypnotic and relaxing. I've thought of why... One reason could be that babies a…

Vancouver (and to a lesser extent Seattle, Washington, DC & Atlanta) do a great job mixing the urban forest and density. Many European cities do as well. Living in concrete boxes doesn't mean there has to be a dearth of trees. It's just most North American cities don't really invest in their trees (heck they don't even invest enough in our kids, so trees are pretty far down on the priority list).

Post by stevekemp » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 5:16 AM UTC

spraak wrote: post #108

jnurmine wrote: post #83

Living near trees implies living in an area where space usage is prioritized for nature instead of the stacked concrete boxes most people (have to?) live in. It is likely a less stressful environment overall than places filled with just concrete walls, asphalt and, at best, some grass. Personally I find tree tops swaying in the wind oddly hypnotic and relaxing. I've thought of why... One reason could be that babies a…

> One reason could be that babies around here are (like I was) put into baby trolleys to sleep outside, summer and winter. Finland? Sweden?

Post by seltzered_ » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 6:01 AM UTC

jdavis703 wrote: post #112

jnurmine wrote: post #83

Living near trees implies living in an area where space usage is prioritized for nature instead of the stacked concrete boxes most people (have to?) live in. It is likely a less stressful environment overall than places filled with just concrete walls, asphalt and, at best, some grass. Personally I find tree tops swaying in the wind oddly hypnotic and relaxing. I've thought of why... One reason could be that babies a…

Vancouver (and to a lesser extent Seattle, Washington, DC & Atlanta) do a great job mixing the urban forest and density. Many European cities do as well. Living in concrete boxes doesn't mean there has to be a dearth of trees. It's just most North American cities don't really invest in their trees (heck they don't even invest enough in our kids, so trees are pretty far down on the priority list).

Post by gingabriska » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 6:21 AM UTC

outworlder wrote: post #7

Unsurprising result. I was so sad (figuratively speaking) when we moved from an older office - but one which had trees all around and even running water - to a very modern, but boring open floor glass paned antfarm-like building. After some time I got literally depressed. Walking around the concreted block did nothing for me anymore. No trees, no water, no birds, no squirrels. Just cars and a lot of heat in the summe…

Post by thom » Sat, Aug 03, 2019, 6:55 AM UTC

mattlondon wrote: post #91

thom wrote: post #86

I live in Sheffield, which is about as green as cities get in the UK. I try and walk every day - you can walk from my front door through woods all the way into the Peak District and stand a good chance of not seeing more than a couple of souls. Lately my son has started joining me and honestly, it’s just the most nourishing part of my life at the moment. I am not sure I could survive on the huddled trees and pruned g…

Try somewhere like Hampstead Heath in London. It's basically a large (Google maps reckons 50 mins to walk from one end to the other) wild heathland with woods and lakes but with very little 'manicuring' but only 10 mins from the centre by tube. Pics: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=Hampstead%20heath&t...