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Study: People living in dense, urban environments healthier than those in suburbs


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People in dense cities are thinner and have healthier hearts than people in sprawling subdivisions. New research says the secret is in the patterns of the streets.

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/08/blame-the-city/375888/

 

Correlation isn't causation.  From the article above...

 

 

"It's nice to make more of these connections,” Marshall told me, tonally foreshadowing the inevitable correlation-is-not-causation caveat, “but it's hard to say that these kinds of neighborhoods cause good health."

It’s true that people who like to walk and bike might be choosing to live in denser neighborhoods, and that may be all there is to this relationship. But on that note, there a lot of people who don't really have a choice where they live. They can't afford to live in the hearts of big grid cities. “A lot of poor people are getting forced out of the walkable urban scene,” Marshall said.
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Ah, the old correlation-causation/crummy use of statistics article.

Now, if you'll believe that, I have a study showing that pollution is caused by voting the Democrat ticket to show you. ;)

Still, it's not a stretch to say that walking/biking more (vs driving) leads to a healthier body. The layout of the burbs requires driving (unless you want to get plowed down). You can be healthier in the burbs, but it requires more effort instead of just getting exercise passively while navigating within the city.

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This is where Americans are getting stupid. It's basic science.

 

If you live in a dense urban environment and walk to work, dinner, shop, movies, etc... then you will burn calories.

 

If you live in a suburban environment and drive to all of those places then you wont burn nearly as many. 

 

Some things aren't up for debate no matter how badly you may disagree. 

 

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Still, it's not a stretch to say that walking/biking more (vs driving) leads to a healthier body. The layout of the burbs requires driving (unless you want to get plowed down). You can be healthier in the burbs, but it requires more effort instead of just getting exercise passively while navigating within the city.

Yeah, if you did walk everywhere you would be healthier. Still, it deals with average lifestyles. If I lived in my Midtown apartment eating Cheetos and Mountain Dew sitting in front of the computer, versus lifting weights and doing runs around the neighborhood in the suburbs, the suburbanite would be healthier. The point is, it's not inherent that living in urban areas are healthier, it's personal habits.

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This is where Americans are getting stupid. It's basic science.

 

If you live in a dense urban environment and walk to work, dinner, shop, movies, etc... then you will burn calories.

 

If you live in a suburban environment and drive to all of those places then you wont burn nearly as many. 

 

Some things aren't up for debate no matter how badly you may disagree. 

 

While the above may be true, it is also an oversimplification.  Most, if not all, of the master planned communities that make up a majority of the outer suburban neighborhoods have sidewalks/hike/bike trails, gyms, pools, playgrounds and the like.  All of these things feature heavily in the advertisements for said communities.  This is not at all scientific, but many of the people I know who live in the suburbs either go to the gym, work out at home, or at least use the hike and bike trails.  If anything, it's the middle neighborhoods, outside the loop but inside of the ring of master planned communities that are most prone to not have sidewalks or extensive exercise amenities.  Even then, though, it's really a matter of how you want to live as you can get plenty of exercise just maintaining a suburban yard and walking the dog in the evenings..

 

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  Even then, though, it's really a matter of how you want to live as you can get plenty of exercise just maintaining a suburban yard and walking the dog in the evenings..

 

 

Amen to the yard work and dog walking especially in the summer! I hope it is not the norm but it is conceivable that a person living in an urban environment could have everything delivered to his dwelling and be just as big a couch potato as his suburban counterpart.

 

I contend I would weigh much less if I lived in a more temperate climate. I would be outdoors more, especially in the summer, than I am now here in Houston. In 1999 my wife and I stopped in Kitzbuhel Austria for about 4 days at the end of a three-week vacation in eastern Europe. It was our chance to truly relax since we tried to see as much as possible in the preceding 2-1/2 weeks.

 

Kitzbuhel is a popular skiing locale but many people also visit in the summer for its charm and relaxing atmosphere. Highs in late May were in the low 70's F so we did as the locals do and took long walks around the lake each evening. There were actually refreshing and very relaxing. Until we figure out how to air condition the entire Gulf coast I guess I will just have to exercise more in the 'winter' to make up for my summer time sloth.

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While the above may be true, it is also an oversimplification.  Most, if not all, of the master planned communities that make up a majority of the outer suburban neighborhoods have sidewalks/hike/bike trails, gyms, pools, playgrounds and the like.  All of these things feature heavily in the advertisements for said communities.  This is not at all scientific, but many of the people I know who live in the suburbs either go to the gym, work out at home, or at least use the hike and bike trails.  If anything, it's the middle neighborhoods, outside the loop but inside of the ring of master planned communities that are most prone to not have sidewalks or extensive exercise amenities.  Even then, though, it's really a matter of how you want to live as you can get plenty of exercise just maintaining a suburban yard and walking the dog in the evenings..

 

 

It's not an oversimplification. 

 

Go to Boston, midtown Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Miracle Mile in Chicago, downtown Seattle, San Francisco, etc... and compare the amounts of people walking with a place like New Territory or Bridgelands. 

 

Then compare the body types. 

 

I spent 17 years in Boston. Texans are FAT. I've gained 13 pounds since I moved home even though I actually go to the gym 1 more time a week than I used to. Why? Because I no longer walk to work. I no longer walk to dinner (well, I sometimes do if it's in the Rice Village). I no longer walk to the grocery store and then carry bags back 18 blocks. I no longer walk to MLB games. When I run out of toothpaste or toilet paper, I now hop in the car and drive to CVS rather than walk 10 blocks.

 

Quite frankly, I am not complaining. While I liked walking and my waistline was smaller, it was also a pain in the rear, especially in the dead of winter. Nothing like running out of cat food at 10 pm when it's 7 degrees out and knowing I am either going to risk the cats killing me in my sleep or hiking 20 blocks round trip while carrying IAMS on the way home with snot freezing in my nose. 

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It's not an oversimplification. 

 

Go to Boston, midtown Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Miracle Mile in Chicago, downtown Seattle, San Francisco, etc... and compare the amounts of people walking with a place like New Territory or Bridgelands. 

 

Then compare the body types. 

 

I spent 17 years in Boston. Texans are FAT. I've gained 13 pounds since I moved home even though I actually go to the gym 1 more time a week than I used to. Why? Because I no longer walk to work. I no longer walk to dinner (well, I sometimes do if it's in the Rice Village). I no longer walk to the grocery store and then carry bags back 18 blocks. I no longer walk to MLB games. When I run out of toothpaste or toilet paper, I now hop in the car and drive to CVS rather than walk 10 blocks.

 

Quite frankly, I am not complaining. While I liked walking and my waistline was smaller, it was also a pain in the rear, especially in the dead of winter. Nothing like running out of cat food at 10 pm when it's 7 degrees out and knowing I am either going to risk the cats killing me in my sleep or hiking 20 blocks round trip while carrying IAMS on the way home with snot freezing in my nose. 

 

I've gained more than 13 lbs since I moved to Houston 15 years ago, despite working the yard, walking the dog, chasing the kids, and trying to get out on my bike as much as possible.  I blame it on an aging metabolism and the restaurant food here, which is just too damn delicious and plentiful for our own good.

 

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