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Lack of Walkability in the US is destroying mental health

makeamericawalkable.com

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Re: Lack of Walkability in the US is destroying mental health

#61

Post by moritzwarhier »

tptacek wrote: post #8
henryhenryhenry wrote: post #2

Why do you feel better when you go to Europe, or even to Disneyland? Humans crave walkable neighborhoods. American and Canadian infrastructure is the main reason we have so many mental health problems.

I buy the value of walkable neighborhoods, but it's hard to make this epidemiological claim hold up; Canada and the US have broadly similar infrastructure but sharply different rates of mental illness; similarly, mental illness rates don't appear to track walkability in Europe.

I don't think it's hard to make this claim hold up at all. Have you looked at local differences apart from comparing HUGE countries with each other; one of which has an extremely low population density? Since you are mentioning walkable "very similar" infrastructure, how do you quantidy actual walkability?

It takes a single search to find many different studies and meta-studies about correlations between noise, air pollution and mental illness, cardiovascular health, life expectancy and others.

I encourage you to look for studies about a metropolitan area near you:

Car traffic is not harmless. Noise is not harmless. It's just that those who contribute the most to pollution anr noise usually don't experience it every day for hours on end, or even during their sleep.

If you prefer esoteric subjects to obvious ones, I'd recommend this study:

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/5/467

If you are looking for proofs for the obvious (living at a busy road makes you sick), there are plenty of studies about this subject as well.

Cancer rates rise, IQ drops, life expectancy drops, all in clear correlation to your immediate environment.

As a German, also the pedestrian's and cyclist's utopia that Europe is painted as on US media also sickens me.

It's purely a matter of money and inheritance.

Good luck finding a non-toxic place to live in a big city with an average wage and *without owning a car*.

Possible, but exceptional.

Re: Lack of Walkability in the US is destroying mental health

#62

Post by predictabl3 »

The closest I've come to slipping back into clinical depression is when I moved home for a few months to KS where the weather is brutalizing and on top of it, they live in the "country" where civilization is 20 minutes away.

One of my family members is clearly desperate for social outlets. And they thrive and gush over anywhere they travel to that inevitably is walkable and has tangible community.

Idk how people do it.

Re: Lack of Walkability in the US is destroying mental health

#63

Post by Finnucane »

chromatin wrote: post #46
cagenut wrote: post #15

IMHO we're going to look back historically at single-family-detached-suburban-sprawl as not just the fulcrum in destroying the environment, but also actively harmful to the people that live there, especially children. Its easy for it to feel "normal" or even aspirational to us now, but its basically only ~3 generations old, and the first generation raised in suburbs was usually larger families in closer-in suburbs, p…

Reasonable people can disagree. My quite small yard in the burbs is my oasis with fruit trees, a garden, place for my dog to run, and a lovely place to sit and listen to birds. On top of this, we can walk to amenities and greet our neighbors on the sidewalk. If I lived in a soulless apartment block my mental health by contrast would be in the pits.

'suburb' and 'soulless apartment block' aren't the only choices. It's entirely possible to build denser mixed-use neighborhoods with less car-dependence without making them urban warehouses. THough typically this is not what we build, neighborhoods like that exist here mainly in places where they've grown that way over time.

Re: Lack of Walkability in the US is destroying mental health

#64

Post by marktani »

loandbehold wrote: post #45
ch4s3 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a meta analysis[1] from 2012 showing that walking has a strong positive effect on depression. Here's one showing that biking and walking for commuting were associated with improved physical/mental health[2]. Here's a newer study showing benefits to the elderly from walking in urban green spaces[3]. Seems like a well supported idea. [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S17552... [2] https:/…

These studies just shows that exercise improves mental health. I doubt anyone disputes that. The question is — are there benefits from walking directly, benefits that you can't get by say going to the gym. The claim of urban density advocates is that just being around thousands of strangers improves mental health.

that's the cool thing about walking/biking, it has built-in exercise for something that most people did on an almost daily basis (commute)

no need to book 2 additional hours every few days and overcome that inner demon to go to the gym :)

Re: Lack of Walkability in the US is destroying mental health

#65

Post by henryhenryhenry »

alibarber wrote: post #44
jzb wrote: post #17

Expected a study, got an ad. Literally the "above-the-fold" piece is an ad to buy a MAWA hat and then a beg for a documentary that isn't yet produced. Ugh.

Yup - for anyone else, this link is junk. It's a page that says they have a million views on Tiktok and please give some money.

It’s a project raising money for the documentary. Goal of the doc is to raise awareness about walkability.

Re: Lack of Walkability in the US is destroying mental health

#66

Post by shmerl »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #54
shmerl wrote: post #41

It's crazy how some places have no sidewalks at all. Dumbest city design.

Yes, but walkability goes far beyond sidewalks. It's easy to find US cities with plenty of sidewalks that are hideously unwalkable, as well as many streets in Japan with no sidewalks that are still highly walkable.

Unless there are separate streets for pedestrians (which is basically non existent in US most of the time), not sure how you can have any city walkable without sidewalks.

Re: Lack of Walkability in the US is destroying mental health

#67

Post by ch4s3 »

loandbehold wrote: post #45
ch4s3 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a meta analysis[1] from 2012 showing that walking has a strong positive effect on depression. Here's one showing that biking and walking for commuting were associated with improved physical/mental health[2]. Here's a newer study showing benefits to the elderly from walking in urban green spaces[3]. Seems like a well supported idea. [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S17552... [2] https:/…

These studies just shows that exercise improves mental health. I doubt anyone disputes that. The question is — are there benefits from walking directly, benefits that you can't get by say going to the gym. The claim of urban density advocates is that just being around thousands of strangers improves mental health.

Walking is basically free, and if you live in a walkable place trivial to build into a daily routine. Even if you exercise regularly but are otherwise sedentary you'll have improved outcomes from adding some walking. These seem to me to be obvious claims.

> just being around thousands of strangers

The nit I would pick here is that you aren't around thousands of strangers per se, but a large number of acquaintances in addition to those strangers. I see neighbors, local business owners, and the folks that work at shops and cafes nearby every time I leave my house in the city. I'm on a first name basis with many of them and we greet each other on the street. If I drove places I would miss out on the exercise and those small social interactions.

Re: Lack of Walkability in the US is destroying mental health

#68

Post by mrguyorama »

deprecative wrote: post #32
EdTechAndrew wrote: post #23

I am glad there is a growing enthusiasm for walkable cities in the US. It's something I've become very passionate about lately. For those that are interested in learning more about the topic, I highly highly recommend the City Nerd youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@CityNerd . I find a lot of arguments for for walkability tend to be emotional or needlessly hostile towards car owners. City Nerd takes a much mor…

Are they hostile to car owners or is it the car dependency enforced via city planning / infrastructure? I almost always see the latter but hear the former as criticism which is laughable.

When you've only ever been familiar with privilege, fairness feels unfair.

Re: Lack of Walkability in the US is destroying mental health

#69

Post by korse »

grumple wrote: post #50
glonq wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"free", but you often get what you pay for. source: am canadian.

In the US, you'll empty your bank account and still get terrible service - you've spent money but received terrible care. Maybe things change if you can afford your own full-time doctor for 500k / year. Canada ranks above the US in every healthcare measure.

How/where? Is this actually a 'solid insurance is hard to get problem'? Neither myself or family (extended included) have experienced problems and we certainly don't have private doctors.

The whole 'american healthcare bad/unaffordable' argument is something that I hear quite a bit on the internet, but pretty much never do in real life.

Re: Lack of Walkability in the US is destroying mental health

#70

Post by TulliusCicero »

shmerl wrote: post #66
TulliusCicero wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but walkability goes far beyond sidewalks. It's easy to find US cities with plenty of sidewalks that are hideously unwalkable, as well as many streets in Japan with no sidewalks that are still highly walkable.

Unless there are separate streets for pedestrians (which is basically non existent in US most of the time), not sure how you can have any city walkable without sidewalks.

I'm not talking about all streets in a given city obviously. Specifically in Japan, narrow streets with no sidewalks are omnipresent in neighborhoods, and they're still far more walkable than a typical US neighborhood street with sidewalks.
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