Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Walking

How Much Do You Walk? …And Other Questions From America Walks

By Tanya Snyder | May 2, 2011 | 1 Comment

Got five minutes to help strengthen and refine pedestrian advocacy? America Walks has put out a survey on walking habits, and they hope the answers will advance understanding of why people walk and what would motivate people to walk more. The survey explores, among other questions: What motivates and sustains avid walkers? What deters others? […]

Food Deserts: Another Way the Deck Is Stacked Against Car-Free Americans

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 4, 2011 | 19 Comments

Slate has posted this map to illustrate the concentration of “food deserts,” where large numbers of people don’t have access to fresh food. The USDA considers households more than a mile from a supermarket and without access to a car to be in food deserts, often with only convenience-store junk food for nourishment. In 2009, the […]

Researchers Confirm Link Between Active Commuting and Better Health

By Adam Voiland | Aug 20, 2010 | 14 Comments

It makes intuitive sense that cycling and walking to work regularly would help people stay healthy, but until now there’s only been anecdotal evidence suggesting that places where walking or cycling to work is common also have lower rates of obesity. Bike traffic in Philadelphia. Photo: Kyle Gradinger, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia That changed […]

Our Waistlines Are Expanding In Sync With Our Car-Dependence

By Adam Voiland | Aug 9, 2010 | 40 Comments

States with the highest adult obesity rates also tend to be where the fewest people bike or walk to work. Image: CDC Two reports released last week underscored the increasing severity of America’s obesity epidemic. And the eye-opening findings add to the mounting evidence that stopping the spread of obesity and its attendant health risks […]

Federal Bike-Ped Funding Sets New High, With Much More Room to Grow

By Ben Fried | Jun 17, 2010 | No Comments

Graph: FHWA [PDF] Federal funding for pedestrian and bicycle projects reached a new high last year, according to a report released yesterday by the Federal Highway Administration. In terms of dollars, federal investment in walking and biking more than doubled compared to the previous high, set in 2007, thanks largely to an infusion of $400 […]

Study: Even in Car-Centric Atlanta, Transport Reform is Health Reform

By Elana Schor | Feb 16, 2010 | 1 Comment

The connection between transportation reform — an emphasis on land use that makes biking and walking as viable as auto travel for routine trips — and health reform is one that’s not often made, despite the best efforts of the Obama administration. Even in traffic-choked Atlanta, denser residential neighborhoods had positive health effects. (Photo: MSNBC) […]

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