I don’t have a car. Whenever I tell people that I’m met either with confusion, or envy. I understand, we live in a car centric society. I can literally hear cars on the highway from my apartment 24/7. That being said, I believe that we need more walkable communities. By walkable communities, I mean communities where you have things like restaurants, grocery stores, movie theaters, shopping centers, schools etc. all within walking distance from where you live. These walkable communities should also have plenty of sidewalks and walking trails. If there’s a walking route that takes you on to the side of a highway, or a road where there’s no sidewalk, then it serves as a major barrier to these walkable communities.To me walking distance is anything less than a 35 minute walk on a sidewalk or walking trail. In Charlotte, and a lot of other big cities, there’s a train or bus system that extends what I would consider walking distance. You can walk to the train, and have it take you where you need to go. I believe having more walkable communities would lead to an increased physical and mental well being in the people that live in those communities. Here’s why.
Do you remember how much fun college was? How cool it was to be able to have all of your friends within walking distance. You could walk to get food, walk to go to the gym, walk to get groceries in some cases. I remember seeing a tweet that said they wish they could have the college experience without having to go to classes. That’s what I imagine these walkable communities could be. Obviously I wasn’t friends with every person I saw in college, but I think there’s something to be said for the sense of belonging you feel when you’re walking around a college campus and see all the students walking around you. It creates a sense of community that you can’t really feel anywhere else.
One positive of this kind of community is the health benefits. Walking promotes a more active lifestyle, and has been linked with things such as increased immune system functioning, reduced joint pain, and can help lower blood sugar. It’s technically a form of cardio, so it’s also good for your heart health and burns calories. A lot of people are vitamin D deficient, and walking outdoors is a good way to get some vitamin D. Vitamin D is associated with bone/teeth health, immune system functioning, among other things. There’s also a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and depression (think seasonal depression), as well as lowered energy levels. So vitamin D may also help regulate mood.
Cars are cool. They look cool, they can go fast, they can take you places far away, but they come at a cost. I remember learning in some of my psychology classes about how we have all these micro stressors that can build up to have the same effect as major stresses in our lives. Micro stressors are small stresses that we experience on a daily basis. Dealing with traffic, trying to find parking, and just trying not to die on the road (accidents were the 3rd leading cause of death in 2016. 1st in males under the age of 44). All are things that are potentially shortening our lives due to the build up of all that stress.That being said, cars come with a literal, monetary cost as well. Hundreds of dollars every month go to car notes, car insurance, gas, car repairs etc. Even if you still have to use your car to go to work, by being able to walk to places like the store, you’re essentially extending the longevity of your car. You’d also still be saving money on gas. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could live somewhere reasonably priced, with an infrastructure that let you walk to where you needed to go? Not to mention the benefits that would have on the environment, having less cars on the road.
Now of course, I’m not asking for cars to be abolished, I just wish they were less necessary than they are in a lot of cases. In these imaginary communities, the citizens would possibly still have to drive to work if they worked at some kind of law firm, or big company or something (somewhere high functioning adults work idk). And of course on road trips, cars would be necessary, but the emphasis on cars in day to day life would drastically decrease. There are some cities that already have a public transportation infrastructure that allow for this kind of living, Charlotte is getting to that point now, but I think there should just be more, and some that aren’t as expensive. Accessibility in America has been a major public safety concern since its inception basically. Specifically when it comes to food deserts. I believe that everyone should be within reasonable walking distance of a grocery store, or at least have grocery stores that are accessible via public transportation. This would help improve people’s mental health, physical health, as well as their monetary health, and also potentially eliminate food deserts. While this would certainly require major funding from the government, I believe it would be worth it to drastically increase the well being of the general population. So I guess that’s why it’ll probably never happen.
Just some guy on the internet 