Brief by Central Staff
Development – April 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine
When it comes to development patterns, we’re partial to the “New Urbanism,” which is pretty much like the “Old Small-townism,” which can be seen in the mature portions of Salida: narrow streets, apartments over stores, mother-in-law houses along the alleys, and above all, sidewalks and a geography congenial to foot and bicycle travel.
Now it turns out that this is good for your health, according to Richard J. Jackson, director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
In the past decade, he said, obesity among American adults has increased by nearly 60%, and 11% of American children are seriously overweight, twice as many as in 1990.
One of the culprits, the CDC suspects, is the suburban car-centered lifestyle, which makes it hard to walk anywhere, even if you want to.
This comes from “Are Our Suburbs Making Us Fat?,” an article by staff writer Lori Montgomery in the Jan. 29 – Feb. 4 Washington Post National Weekly Edition.
More from the article:
“There is scientific evidence to support the notion that people who live in suburban communities are less likely to walk or bike than people who live in traditional, prewar communities, where gridlike streets support a mix of homes, stores, and businesses.”
So if “smart growth” is “healthy growth,” then the old ways are the best ways, and they’re what true conservatives should support, rather than obesity-generating unhealthy auto-dominated suburban sprawl.
