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Friday, April 29, 2005
Urban Life: Walk this way, Seattle
Americans know experts are right when they tell us to walk more. It's an easy route to better health.
Nothing could be more convenient and safer, unless the neighborhood where one lives has enough crime to cause concern. Or there are no sidewalks. Or the closest store is just too far to reach in the amount of time one has to walk.
Neighborhoods, in cities and suburbs, could be much better designed for healthy lifestyles. Making walking easier, safer and more convenient is one of the most promising ways to develop healthy habits among Americans, whose waistlines testify to the need for changes.
As Dr. Richard Jackson, California's public health officer, told the Post-Intelligencer the other day, Seattle is ahead of many cities in conditions for walking. Jackson, a national leader in promoting healthier neighborhoods, came to talk to city government's Urban Sustainability Forum.
Seattle and surrounding areas still have a long way to go. Transit, which gets people out of cars, lags years behind other regions. Pedestrian crosswalks can be yanked from a neighborhood, as happened in North Seattle where a 12-year-old boy was seriously injured in February at a formerly marked crossing. Traffic lights in every Puget Sound municipality seem timed to allow maximum rain on walkers.
Cities need to pick up the pace of improvements for pedestrians.
 | |
| How would you rate walking conditions in your neighborhood? | |
 40.9%Excellent. There's easy, safe access to transit, shopping and recreation |
23.5% Good. It's safe and some places are reachable |
| 15.4% Fair. No safety problems |
18.6% Poor. You've got to be determined -- and brave |
| 1.6% Don't know or don't care |
|
| Total Votes: 247 | |
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