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May 05, 2006
Make up your mind
These days many people are anxious to establish a link between low density sprawl and bad health.
Kind of interesting that at the turn of the 20th Century, officials were worried about the health impacts of high density areas where infectious diseases had an easier time of infecting lots of people. Officials thought America would be healthier if we lowered densities (and separated houses from environmentally suspect commercial and industrial operations).
So should we listen to those who tell us that high density living is better for us after all? It sure seems like the case is closed, that everybody agrees sprawl makes us lazy, soft, and sickly.
Yet this Transportation Research Board/Institute of Medicine study is probably the most exhaustive analysis on the subject and it finds that evidence supporting a relationship between the built environment and physical activity is “currently sparse.”
It's easy to see how high density living can make it easier to incorporate walking into everyday activities. On the other hand, traveling the suburban way (by car) is much faster. You can get to work and back, run all your errands, and still have much more time left over than if you tried to accomplish the same tasks on foot or by transit. The TRB/IOM study notes that the lack of time is a factor in why people don’t get enough exercise, yet:
- “The role of time has not been well accounted for in examining the relationship between the built environment and physical activity.”
How nice it would be if some of the researchers who have suburbia in their crosshairs would turn their attention to this under-studied issue.
Posted by tedb at May 5, 2006 05:02 PM
Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten26832 at January 22, 2007 02:46 PM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten1292 at January 24, 2007 04:22 PM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten37242 at January 26, 2007 03:45 PM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten76544 at January 26, 2007 09:54 PM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten35861 at January 26, 2007 10:40 PM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I don't care. I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. Basically not much happening right now. Maybe tomorrow. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten90639 at January 27, 2007 06:41 PM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten5828 at January 27, 2007 09:57 PM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten74754 at January 28, 2007 04:04 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten30505 at January 28, 2007 04:40 AM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten41449 at January 28, 2007 10:42 AM
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Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten96673 at January 28, 2007 05:00 PM
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Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten88677 at January 28, 2007 06:37 PM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten73549 at January 28, 2007 08:03 PM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten57615 at January 29, 2007 01:04 AM
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Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't been up to much these days. I just don't have much to say right now. I can't be bothered with anything , but whatever.
Comment by: Sten90767 at January 30, 2007 12:42 AM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten10216 at January 30, 2007 03:21 PM
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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.
Comment by: Sten43994 at January 31, 2007 07:19 AM
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Not much on my mind right now, but it's not important. I've just been letting everything happen without me. I just don't have anything to say right now.
Comment by: Sten64024 at January 31, 2007 04:17 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten36811 at January 31, 2007 07:42 PM
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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.
Comment by: Sten42062 at February 1, 2007 05:34 AM
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Not much on my mind. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me , but shrug. Whatever. I feel like a void.
Comment by: Sten45751 at February 1, 2007 10:21 AM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten95028 at February 1, 2007 12:32 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten75191 at February 2, 2007 02:08 AM
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Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten54248 at February 3, 2007 12:31 AM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten64810 at February 3, 2007 11:20 AM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten65242 at February 3, 2007 05:03 PM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten51305 at February 3, 2007 09:37 PM
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Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten34025 at February 4, 2007 11:13 PM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten83179 at February 5, 2007 09:22 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten45534 at February 5, 2007 10:47 PM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten25515 at February 6, 2007 08:14 AM
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