I was listening to a podcast earlier, and the conversation turned to the links between suburbs - (modern ones are not generally walkable) and obesity. It sounds like a clear link, but in thinking about my youth, I had to step back and disagree: this is a larger cultural issue. It's certainly the case that making neighborhoods physically distant from shops doesn't help, but it's just too facile an answer.

Here's my anecdotal reason why: back during my tween and teen years, before I got a driver's license, I lived in a suburb that was more remote from things than the place I live now. The shops, post office (etc) were five miles away, as was the high school I attended. Here in Maryland, the equivalent distances are 2 miles. Not walkable really, but not as far - and the roads, while not exactly bike friendly, are nowhere near as hostile to cyclists as the NY state roads I rode on then.

Back in the 70's, I (and everyone I knew) was allowed to head out the door and disappear for the day, at a pretty young age. By the time I was 12, I was sometimes off on a bike ride 20-25 miles away from home with friends. Today? Parents barely let kids out of their sight to play. Going off to ride a bike with no way to call home for hours at a time? Completely out of the question. There's the cultural change - unstructured, unsupervised play is simply frowned on now. Then there are all the distractions we didn't have: computers (with social media), mobile phones, video games. It's easy to blow through hours without ever moving from a couch now, in a way that just wasn't the case back when I was a kid.

So sure, it might help (some) to have a more walkable neighborhood, and I certainly don't oppose having them - it would be nice to be within walking distance of a good mocha, for instance. I think it would help with obesity a whole lot less than some people think though - it's a technical solution to a cultural problem.

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