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Walkable cities sneak exercise into daily life. Coffee runs, grocery trips and commutes turn into steps that boost dopamine, mood and energy.
Car dependent cities keep you parked in traffic and at desks, fuelling sedentary habits linked to depression and cognitive decline.
Walkable cities invite chance encounters. Smiles on sidewalks, quick chats with neighbours and local shop hellos build connection and fight loneliness.
Car dependent cities keep people alone in cars and homes where isolation quietly chips away at mental well being.
Walkable cities give you options to stroll, bike or take transit. Less car dependence means less traffic stress, more freedom and calmer mornings.
Car dependent cities lock you into unpredictable commutes, noise and road rage that spike cortisol and strain mental health daily
Walkable cities weave green parks and trees into everyday life. Nature exposure lowers stress, improves focus and lifts mood.
Car dependent cities replace trees with asphalt and noise, pumping out pollution that can worsen anxiety, irritability and cognitive performance.
Walkable cities naturally promote activity, connection, calm & nature which are all protectors of mental health.
Car dependent cities lead to more isolation, stress & less movement.
How we build cities is not just transport planning. It needs to consider mental health planning.
Yes but also a walkable city has to be a sitable city! I’m not about to enforce extra unneeded walk time under the climate change summer sun to an elderly person who enjoys the pleasure of irreversible knee damage that the state did not want to solve nor even palliate.
Live in a highly walkable city; can confirm.
Pretty sure walkable cities also have desks, but the rest is solid.
Nope, in walkable cities all desks have little treadmills under them.
Look, I do like living in a pedestrian-only street in a town you can easily work across and being in a car maybe a handful of times a year.
But please spare me the terminally online health guru pitch. Every part of that post sounds atrocious to me. The exoticization alone makes me want to move back to a major city. I don’t go to the shop next door for smiles and chance encounters, I go because they have the nice cookies. I don’t go at all if I can help it because pants are still evil in “walkable cities”. Do please get off it.
Dunno why you’re so cranky. OP is absolutely spot on with this post. Maybe you should ditch your commute…you’d probably be happier. ;)
I don’t have a commute. I don’t have a car, or even a license. I push a shopping cart to the supermarket and back, three of which are within a block of my house. I buy fresh produce every day from a small shop and I haven’t been to a chain restaurant in months.
If anything the cranky should be proof that all that chance encountering and accidental smiling the touristy OP talks about won’t make you any nicer.
Single data points aren’t indicative of a wider trend. Maybe you’re just miserable about your situation…I dunno. Kinda seems like you’re just be a dick to be a dick.
I mean, I get it, some days I wake up in a really bad mood, and I take it out on other people. If thats not what this is, then I pitty you for being the type of person you are.
Hah. Hey, sorry for being a pathetic rube. Good to know we may not have the respect of them big city boys but we at least have their condescension.
FWIW, our area is above average in some pretty concerning mental health issues compared to the national average. It’s not a single data point. Turns out there’s more to mental and physical health than walking to buy tomatoes. Go figure.
I’m not a big city boy…I grew up in a hick ass town with like 2000 people in it. Anyway, have a nice day. This is the least productive conversation I’ve had all day and im not interested in continuing it.
On that we agree.
That just means you’d be even crankier somewhere less walkable!
I’ve lived in a bunch of places, ranging from massive cities to tiny towns. Trust me, the cranky is a universal constant.
I do avoid car-first North American-style city sprawls, though. Nobody knows what would happen there, it’s like crossing the streams in Ghostbusters.
What are top five best walkable cities in the US that are also affordable?
I’m not sure I could name 5, period
What I was afraid of. Walkable cities is a great a noble thing. It just sucks we aren’t making those in America.
Pennsylvania’s got you covered with Pittsburgh and Philly.
Pittsburgh has great walking but its transit is quite limited. Philly has good transit (for USA).
Both very affordable compared to other cities.
Chicago is pretty similar to Philly in terms of affordability, walkability and transit.
Trying to decide if these could have data backing them up. Clearly if you look at people who walk/bike to work in our current cities, they will be healthier. But I would assume this is a selection effect? And probably not much less lonely? I was under the impression that loneliness was high everywhere.
Curious if transit systems really are more reliable than the typical car commute. I’ve certainly had missed connections, bus breakdowns, and people jumping in front of trains.
And I didn’t follow why a walkable city will have more green spaces. Surely in a capitalism we’ll still have strong pressure to fill most of that.
And I didn’t follow why a walkable city will have more green spaces. Surely in a capitalism we’ll still have strong pressure to fill most of that.
Well yes, but a walkable city is already something that doesn’t really align with hardcore capitalism. And if your goal is a walkable city, then you need to make it enjoyable. Most people don’t enjoy walking through endless grey.
Although yes, in Europe, city leaderships that care about that are usually on the left side of the political spectrum.
Point is, a walkable city has no advantage to capitalism. So it’s a safe assumption that a leadership pushing for it is not really that capitalist.
Well, when you put it that way
This sentiment is great, but I have 2 dogs, and play loud drums, and have loud dirt bikes…neighbors would hate me.
Walkable towns / cities doesn’t have to be high density housing, just means you need actual sidewalks and public transportation.
Oh, i see! I do wish I had a bike trail near me. Damn impossible to bike without about getting ran over.
On the metro in my city, the dogs are better behaved than the humans, and the drummers get tips. You could just ride your dirt bike to places instead of transporting it on a truck.
