My wife and I are considering selling our house and moving. We believe the time is right, and our family would, in all likelihood, improve our quality of life by getting us closer to amenities and reducing commute times, which would give us more time together as a family. To make this work though, we would have to end up in a healthy neighborhood, as our current home has no good places to walk, and few amenities. This has led us to look carefully at what we would hope to find in a new home.
A User’s Guide Healthy Walkable Neighborhoods
When my wife and I purchased our home; 12-years ago now, we had a handful of criteria that a potential home had to meet. Like most people I know, those were primarily location, affordability, and square footage. We wanted a home that gave us a semblance of privacy, so row-houses were out of the question, and convenience wasn’t really high on the list. At the time, high speed internet wasn’t even available in our community, so that wasn’t even on the table. Now, the housing situation has changed completely, as have our needs.
Many housing experts believe that community design plays an important role in the rising incidence of obesity in the U.S. Urban design experts determined long ago that the best plans for building healthy neighborhoods would separate housing from industrial and commercial interests. At the time, pollution, noise, and traffic were high on the list of concerns – for good reasons. The result of this arrangement has been the evolution of the suburban lifestyle, where homes are separated from convenience stores, restaurants, and jobs. It helped birth the drive-thru, and ultimately helped popularize fast food, since families started spending more time in cars. But as industrial pollution has steadily declined, and noise ordinances have gained favor, many of those concerns have abated. Meanwhile, Americans are spending greater amounts of time in their cars, and long commutes are considered one of the leading causes of belly fat. So what should we look for in urban design today?
Urban Spaces
New ideas on community design attempt to blend access to simple conveniences with housing to create walkable communities. In the new model, neighborhoods are built around a central convenience store or strip mall, and drive-thru’s are a thing of the past. Housing units are broken up into blocks of similar types, with areas dedicated to apartment-living, townhomes, and traditional residential houses, and each type has designated green spaces for playgrounds and outdoor activities. The idea is that residents should be able to get home, park their vehicles, and not have to get back in their car until they return to work the next day.
Proximity To Work/Amenities
By most standards, I live in a relatively small community, and yet my commute to work is still approximately 30-minutes, 1-way. That wouldn’t be so bad if other amenities were near our home, but sadly, our current house isn’t close to much of anything. Homes constructed within walking, or even cycling distance of the workplace offer advantages in reduced transit times and lower overall transportation costs. Living that close, I could even incorporate exercise by jogging or cycling to work, and even a short distance done daily can become significant. The number of calories burned running a mile adds up, done day after day. In our community, there are neighborhoods within a 10-minute drive, or a 20-minute bike ride, or my workplace. That could cut 40-minutes per day out of my car ride, which translates into nearly 3.5 hours/week of my life each week. Throw in the occasional stop on the way home and we’re easily into 4-hours each week in a car, and that doesn’t even consider weekend activities or short trips into town. As I approach the big 4-0, I also start to think about the longer-term needs to have a housing located in areas that provide independence even into retirement, where walkable neighborhoods take on a whole new meaning.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has incorporated design elements of walkable neighborhoods into their requirements for public housing reconstruction and development, so the advantages of such neighborhoods are being recognized. A handful of neighborhoods in my community have started adopting these principles, and finding homes located within a 10-minute of my workplace is relatively straightforward. However, communities that consist of homes within walking distance of corner markets is a more significant challenge. A few years ago, my wife and I looked carefully at a new development that offered promise, but that development has encountered problems, so it would appear neighborhoods having that design aesthetic aren’t ready for prime-time in this area. Having said all that, we’re looking. There are too many reasons for us not to take it seriously.
Hi Greg,
I really appreciate this post on Walkable neighborhoods. Having lived in NYC for 20 years I still don’t take new York’s walkability for granted. When looking at jobs and imagining where else I would be able to live in the US I place a neighborhood’s walkability at the top of my must have list. In fact, the first time I noticed the importance of having a walkable neighborhood was while visiting some relatives in Toledo, Ohio years ago. It became apparent rather quickly that a car was needed to get to pretty much everything- even a deli.
I do hope more new housing developments will take note of the design elements you mention. This is the kind of variable which can greatly improve health and quality of life measures.