THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF SMART URBAN PLANNING: The Center for the Advancement of Health recently announced the results of a study of walking patterns. It found, "People are more likely to go for a walk in areas with four-way intersections and a large number of shops and businesses as possible destinations." The study is published in the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. This is a crucial health issue, not merely one for regional economic planners, because Americans have continuously walked less and driven more in recent years, and that has contributed to America's obesity epidemic. The four way intersections and business density of traditional town and city design has now been scientifically proven to facilitate more walking, and thus better public health, than the arterial cul-de-sacs and spread out strip mall shopping districts of suburban sprawl. Hopefully policymakers will take notice and write zoning codes accordingly. But, given America's sick automobile obsession, I'm not holding my breath.
--Ben Adler
