Walkable neighborhoods offer surprising benefits to our health, the
environment, and our communities.
Better health: A study in Washington State found that the average resident
of a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood weighs 7 pounds less than someone who
lives in a sprawling neighborhood. Residents of walkable neighborhoods drive
less and suffer fewer car accidents, a leading cause of death between the ages
of 15 - 45.
Reduction in greenhouse gas: Cars are a leading cause of global warming.
Your feet are zero pollution transportation machines.
More transportation options: Compact neighborhoods tend to have higher
population density, which leads to more public transportation options and
bicycle infrastructure. Not only is taking the bus cheaper than driving, but
riding a bus is ten times safer than driving a car!
Increased social capital: Walking increases social capital by promoting
face-to-face interaction with your neighbors. Studies have shown that for
each 10 minutes a person spends in a daily car commute, time spent in
community activities falls by 10 percent.
Stronger local businesses: Dense, walkable neighborhoods provide local
businesses with the foot traffic they need to thrive. It's easier for pedestrians to
shop at many stores on one trip, since they don't need to drive between
destinations.
It Adds Up
Our friends at the Sightline Institute summed it up best in the 2006 Cascadia
Scorecard:
“Over time, these differences compound. Step by step, the extra walking helps
the family in the compact neighborhood remain, well, compact. They keep off
weight and exercise more, helping to prevent chronic ailments such as
diabetes and heart disease. Fewer miles in cars—and perhaps more in buses—
keep them safer from fatal or debilitating crashes. The air they breathe may
even be cleaner than their suburban counterparts’, especially if they spend
less time in the “pollution tunnel” of busy highways. And they may interact
with their neighbors more, which helps connect them to their community
and fosters close friendships within their own neighborhood. This in turn may
help buoy their health and lift their spirits in hard times.
Conversely, the family in the sprawling neighborhood is more prone to
weight gain and inactivity (and the resulting disease) and car and truck
crashes (and the resulting devastation). They spend more time in their cars,
which may expose them to worse air quality on the highway, while
diminishing their contacts with neighbors and involvement in their
community.
The difference between the families on any of these measures would not be
large. But small differences spread across millions of such families amount to
colossal costs: sprawl cuts short Cascadians’ lives.”
From: http://www.walkscore.com/walking-matters.shtml
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