At the dark end of the street

A recent article in the Harvard Business Review has revived interest in Dr. Lawrence Frank's work. Frank is a University of British Columbia professor who documents how the physical environment impacts level of physical activity. He notes that residents of walkable neighborhoods are 2 and a 1/2 times more likely to be physical active than people who don't live in walkable neighborhoods. And street connectivity really matters: residents in who live in a highly connected street grid drive 26% fewer vehicle miles than residents who live in areas with many cul-de-sacs. The end result is that if you drive more you have a greater chance of gaining weight: Frank reports that for each 1/2 hour of driving per day is associated with a 3% greater chance of being overweight.

Frank summarizes the urban elements that are the most influential for increased physical activity in a neighborhood:
• presence of a continuous sidewalk system;
• presence of dedicated bicycle facilities;
• building setbacks;
• the design, supply, and location of parking;
• ability to cross streets;
• buffering from vehicular traffic;
• size of block faces;
• lighting;
• presence of other pedestrians;
• “eyes on the street”;
• presence of public spaces;
• levels of employment density;
• levels of residential density;
• levels of land use mix; and
• overall continuity of the street network

The ability to arrive at a destination is also an important consideration to promote more walking. In a well connected street network, there is greater choice and a higher possibility that a spectrum of destinations are available for the walking trip, as seen in the following graphic which shows possible one kilometer trips from the red dot in the center of the map.

Going big time

Stories like these that sensationalize the expansion of the American waistline are all too frequent. I wonder what will be the big shocker that causes a reversal in this trend. The alarm bells are clanging but the people who most need to pay heed to the emergency are not listening. We need make the healthy choice an easy choice. Listen up city planners, politicians, DOTs, school districts, Big Food: You better get your act in gear or the military is going to make you.

Transit certainty

Transit plays a significant role in active living since every transit trip involves some sort of walk trip. Transit use, however, is often seen or experienced as inconvenient, and often there's a clear basis for that observation. One way to make transit use more attractive is to remove the uncertainty about when the bus or train will arrive. The wait often feels much longer than it actually is.

Enter the increasingly ubiquitous smart phone. Transit operators have begun to release the raw transit vehicle location data and programmers have created apps, so transit riders can have the information sent to their smartphones. Three cheers for Transit 2.0!

Walking to School Uphill- both ways

The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program increases student's physical activity through encouraging them to walk or bike to school. A short promotional film produced by Blue Cross Blue Shield shows how one family and one suburban school has incorporated this into their daily regime. the video shows the success of the program, as well as it limitations, in a setting where sidewalk access and single use low-density residential zones restricts safe access by walking and biking. The SRTS program is a good start for many communities to make families aware that there is a choice to walk or bike, but physical layout of some neighborhoods is a challenge. With a large residential lots, multi-acre school campuses, scarcity of sidewalks, and few other walkers, it is a challenge akin to walking to school uphill- both ways.

On the other hand, another local effort which was the recipient of a recent grant- one of twenty awarded nationwide- is set within a walkable neighborhood where the layout encourages students to walk. The walking school bus, conceived of by David Engwicht, promotes student mobility and independence in a sociable way.

The future is ninety years ago

Winston Churchill once said that “We shape our buildings and they shape us.” The same is true for our built environment. But we have become misshaped in our built environment which does not promote daily physical exercise and healthy behavior. As a result we are seeing an epidemic of obesity and an increased incidence of chronic diseases that could be prevented, or their severity decreased, if there were more opportunities and encouragement for physical activity.

Whether it is implementing Complete Streets, Active Living, Safe Routes to School, or the full spectrum of recreational programs, the effort to encourage people toward more exercise is more than an effort to force people to sweat. It is part of the inevitable 21st Century transformation in the way we conduct the business of living. How we transport ourselves and our goods, and how we respond to impacts on our environment from our fossil fuel-based lifestyle frames the fundamental political and governmental policy questions of the coming decades. Although there are many means to address these pressing issues, this much we know to be true: By becoming more active, and by retrofitting our public thoroughfares and making changes in land use patterns, we can begin to address the public health and environmental impacts of our current way of living. Our next fifty years will be about unraveling the mistakes in urban planning from the last fifty years.

What if we build it and they don’t come? For residents in our communities to be engaged in the level of physical activity that would have significant public health and environmental impacts, it would be a seismic cultural shift. Studies in cultural change inform us that many factors combine to induce these sorts of changes, and it is very difficult to know in advance what actually causes change. But we do know that it takes a critical mass of people to spark change. And once it is seen that “everybody’s doing it,” then in fact, everybody does it. Major cultural changes we have seen in recent years, such as the decrease in public acceptance of smoking, have only occurred after a tipping point occurred where continuing to engage in those behaviors was less socially acceptable. The goal is to build a biking and walking infrastructure that mimics the best parts of our transportation infrastructure and minimizes the worst to make it convenient, “normal” and fun for people to use.

In the end, designing places that accommodate all ages and modes of travel is a back to the future endeavor. Living in ways that promote physical activity in our everyday life, similar to how our grandparents lived, will be a giant step to achieving sustainability in our energy use and enhancing our public health. In the end, only by going back to the future will we even have a future.

This is not your parent's DOT

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood continues to advocate for non-motorized transportation modes. A recent policy statement announces the sea change in priorities to recognize and incorporate transportation alternatives in planning and funding. It is now official DOT policy to consider "walking and biking as equals with other transportation modes."

This statement comes after he made an impromptu table top speech to National Bike Summit attendees that caused quite a stir among the faithful.

From the annals of "Don't Try This at Home"

Ah... the virtues of active living.