Live Green: Move to the City

I've been saying things like this for years:

the pace and proximity of urban living can actually contribute to more healthful lifestyles, while lower-density communities tend to have a higher incidence of cardiovascular and lung diseases, including asthma in children, as well as cancer, diabetes, obesity, traffic injuries and deaths; these are exacerbated by an increase in air pollution, gridlock and traffic accidents, and by a lack of physical activity. The study recommended that people seek out cities and towns with reliable public transportation systems, bicycle lanes and pedestrian paths, ones that have schools, businesses and stores within walking distance.

From Is Your House Making You Look Fat? by Allison Arieff in By Design - New York Times Blog.

My humble neighborhood in Oakland, CA has all that, and there are plenty of starter homes for sale right near the main shopping district. We've got three natural foods groceries; a supermarket and a couple of drugstores; a great bookstore; several cafes; three cute clothing/gift shops; and all the nail salons you could ever want. Express buses to San Francisco leave every fifteen minutes, Mills College is a long walk or a short bus ride away, and yes there are even bike lanes. Many of the home lots are double wide or extra deep, so you could grow your own fruits and vegetables for health and enjoyment. People even keep chickens around here.

(The study: A report by the Ontario College of Family Physicians on public health as it relates to development patterns suggests that the greater the density, the fewer the fatalities per 1,000 people, as calculated over 83 United States regions covering two-thirds of the total population.)

The new urbanism - and you don't have to buy a McMansion in Las Vegas to get it.

Comments

[Donna]

It sounds idyllic. I'm so sick of the suburbs. Too bad the hub hates the city.

[Leila]

It's not *that* idyllic here, Donna. My area reminds me of Culver City, not known for its glamour. However the buses run, there's plenty of shopping, public services like parks and libraries do exist, and you can carve out a good life for yourself.

If we really needed/wanted to, we could have a stellar public transit system just by improving what's already in place, in L.A. as well as the East Bay of SF. Put on a bunch more buses so that people know they can go to the nearest artery, wait no more than ten minutes and get a bus. If shopping were concentrated more around those arteries, as it was fifty years ago before the street cars were ripped out, this would all be convenient.

Even out in the San Fernando valley, one could find a cute house near a major boulevard with decent shopping and then live with only one car per family. Really. As long as your commute could be on public transit, and your local shopping could meet your needs.

It's living five miles from the nearest grocery store that causes all the problems...

[Nona]

It is possible. I’m a car-free Angeleno in a mixed neighborhood with single-family homes, condos, apartments and 90% of what I need within walking distance. (Not to mention a bunch of stuff I don’t need, but the window-shopping is good entertainment) As for the rest I can bike or take public transit (or occasionally rent a car, we DO have a ways to go with public transit here). The farmers market is the heart of the community, and it’s a great place to start if you’re looking for a pedestrian-oriented living situation. They’re usually located in a kind of town-center spot. I sometimes think living on a human scale keeps me sane.

[Leila]

Nona - very interesting description of your neighborhood; it could be several in LA that I know of, and I hardly know L.A.

Here in the Bay Area we now have Zip Cars in most neighborhoods, parked in specially marked lots or spaces. I think you sign up with a credit card, then when you need a car (or a small pickup or wagon) you go online, find the nearest available one, sign up for it somehow, and go get it with your key. I see the cars parked all over town. My in-laws in Portland OR have suggested that if we use plane or train to visit them next, we could get a Zip Car when needed while staying there. POrtland has good transit but sometimes you want to get out of town.