Everybody, walk your body.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/04/16/150586667/americans-do-not-walk-the-walk-and-thats-a-growing-problem?sc=fb&cc=fp

"Americans now walk the least of any industrialized nation in the world," says writer Tom Vanderbilt. To find out why that is, Vanderbilt has been exploring how towns are built, how Americans view walking — and what might be done to get them moving around on their own two feet.

Talking with Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep about what is wrong with Americans' relationship with walking, Vanderbilt says, "The main thing is, we're just not doing enough of it."

"We've engineered walking out of our existence and everyday life," Vanderbilt says. "I even tried to examine the word 'pedestrian,' and it's always had sort of this negative connotation — that it was always better to be on a horse or something, if you could manage it."

In a series of stories for Slate about "The Crisis in American Walking," Vanderbilt writes about pedestrian life in America, from "sidewalk science" to possible ways to make the U.S. less car-centric. And he finds that what started as a push for convenience has become a difficult problem, as many parts of the country are now designed specifically for cars, not pedestrians.

And while Americans have cut down on walking, they've been putting on some pounds. A recent study found that about 35 percent of adult Americans are obese, as NPR's Shots blog reported in January. That equals "more than 78 million adults and more than 12 million children."

As one example of how people can take a technological advance and turn it into a reason to stop exercising, Vanderbilt points to the moving sidewalk.

"Go to an airport, and look at people on the moving walkway," he says. "I mean, the engineers who built that walkway — it's meant to speed you up, by walking on it. You're not meant to just hop on it and go on a slow, sort of moving ride."

Americans' reluctance to be pedestrians has not gone unnoticed — and there are efforts under way to get us walking more. The group America Walks, for instance, promotes walking in our daily lives with its "safe routes" program and other initiatives. And the Walk Score website rates neighborhoods based on how easy it is to walk around in them.

Those ideas also contribute to the rising trend of "mixed-use" real estate developments, many of which approximate the feel of an old village square by building cobblestones, sidewalks and lampposts into outdoor malls or apartment buildings.

Vanderbilt says of the movement, "I think the impulse is correct, and it does speak to this hunger that I think people do have, to walk."

But, he adds, while such developments offer a way to treat the symptoms of inactivity, they don't address the core problem — of too many people living too far away from the things they need.

"It's been argued by certain planners that people will drive to where they want to walk," he says. "But, can we walk to where we want to go? Does it always have to be a matter of jumping in a car?"

"Walking is really as natural as breathing," Vanderbilt says. "We're all born pedestrians."

Talking with Steve, Vanderbilt cites a thought on walking from philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, who said, "I've walked myself into my best thoughts."

"I think we've all had that experience, of just taking a walk to clear your head. And it lowers your stress," Vanderbilt says — then adds, "hopefully, it lowers your stress. Some places we have to walk in the U.S., it doesn't lower your stress."

As he writes in the final installment of his series, "There is not a single dollar in the U.S. federal transportation budget dedicated strictly to walking."

Later in the same paragraph, Vanderbilt writes: "As a Federal Highway Administration study noted, 'In 2009, about 2.0 percent of federal-aid surface transportation funds were used for pedestrian and bicycle programs and projects. However, those two modes are estimated to account for almost 12 percent of all trips and represent more than 13 percent of all traffic fatalities.'"

Chile, I'll walk you alright. Walk you like a dawg.

imago said:

Chile, I'll walk you alright. Walk you like a dawg.

You always say such sweet things.

A lot of america really needs to be redesigned for this. It's true.

I don't own a car, so I walk, bus and bike nearly everywhere. Still, I feel like I don't do enough.

We have treadmill work stations available at work and I often go on walking status meetings with people I work with to get more in. Otherwise I'm sitting 8 hours a day.

Yes we do!

Walking is such a foreign concept around here. My own kids treat it like corporal punishment...and I punished them severely on Saturday when we walked around NYC all day.

I honestly think it's about how much we work.

Americans work far more hours than any other western country.

If you're going to go somewhere, the difference between 30 minutes and 10 minutes is a big deal if you're having to work 1-3 hours of overtime that day.

To me, it's not just walking....It's everything.

Bouth moms and dads work too much...The kids are over doped and stimulated.

It just goes on and on.

Sure, we can do it. We can walk more, but society as a whole has made it

more difficult and less appealing.

I think a lot of Americans would be open to the idea, if their working hours

were more sane, and cities were designed to support this. Also, people need

to keep their damned dogs locked up and not freely roaming yards--it's the law

in most places.

I used to love biking to the grocery store in Florida, after I realized that I could

do it in 15 minutes, all on sidewalks (it took me 4 years to realize this ).

But, man did I hate the fact that some people's ghetto ass dogs (especially

pit bulls--i hate those fucking things) out without supervision.

CarrieMpls said:

A lot of america really needs to be redesigned for this. It's true.

I don't own a car, so I walk, bus and bike nearly everywhere. Still, I feel like I don't do enough.

We have treadmill work stations available at work and I often go on walking status meetings with people I work with to get more in. Otherwise I'm sitting 8 hours a day.

I've thought about that before, but there's just no way to re-design a spread-out city like Houston for walking. I wish there was - I'd walk all the time.

Our downtown does have a tunnel system, though.

I love to get out and walk. I'd much rather do that than be cooped up in a gym.

I live across the street from a park with a track.

I also walk to the supermarket with an empty backpack, shop, and trek on back up the hill...

chocolate1 said:

I love to get out and walk. I'd much rather do that than be cooped up in a gym.

I live across the street from a park with a track.

I also walk to the supermarket with an empty backpack, shop, and trek on back up the hill...

I walk anywhere from 5 - 20 miles a day. It's actually a problem for me, though, because I keep losing weight, and I'm already underweight. I'm known around town as that weird guy who's always walking, so apparently I am a rarity..

I really miss being able to walk a long way as I have a spinal condition. MY hubby will be 63 and he rides a bike 8 miles to and from work. Walk while you still can.

it's true, it's something i've noticed when visiting the states.. apart from parks/cities. lovely pavements, but noone using them, it's very odd.

Distances are very large in the U.S., I can imagine (whereas in central Europe you can not only walk around in large cities and see at least half of its most important sights in a day, but also basically hop onto any bus or train and get to the next largest city in two hours), which may also play a part...

But still, I've heard of lots of Americans who would use their fat cars to drive to the next block and would be all flabbergasted if somebody suggested walking. So I guess there must be some kind of difference in society when it comes to walking.

Personally, I do love driving. But out of sheer economical reasons (and because I'm thankful for the opportunity) I use public transport as often as possible. And when I'm in a nice city, I prefer walking around there, because it makes it so much easier to grasp and enjoy the beauty of the surroundings, because you have so much time to just look.

Dave1992 said:

But still, I've heard of lots of Americans who would use their fat cars to drive to the next block and would be all flabbergasted if somebody suggested walking. So I guess there must be some kind of difference in society when it comes to walking.

I've known a few people who drive about five or ten minutes to go to work. If you can drive there that fast, you could walk there pretty easily. Some of them are even really fit, so I don't think of them as unhealthy or anything. I think Americans are so bonded to their cars that driving everywhere is a habit.

Efan said:

Dave1992 said:

But still, I've heard of lots of Americans who would use their fat cars to drive to the next block and would be all flabbergasted if somebody suggested walking. So I guess there must be some kind of difference in society when it comes to walking.

I've known a few people who drive about five or ten minutes to go to work. If you can drive there that fast, you could walk there pretty easily. Some of them are even really fit, so I don't think of them as unhealthy or anything. I think Americans are so bonded to their cars that driving everywhere is a habit.

I live 5 minutes away from the school (about 20 minute walk), but it's really hard to drag a bag full of books and all the "crap" that teachers carry, so I choose not to.

I do find other places to walk, though.

chocolate1 said:

Efan said:

I've known a few people who drive about five or ten minutes to go to work. If you can drive there that fast, you could walk there pretty easily. Some of them are even really fit, so I don't think of them as unhealthy or anything. I think Americans are so bonded to their cars that driving everywhere is a habit.

I live 5 minutes away from the school (about 20 minute walk), but it's really hard to drag a bag full of books and all the "crap" that teachers carry, so I choose not to.

I do find other places to walk, though.

Just asking out of interest: isn't there the possibility of leaving stuff at school? Our teachers always did that.

When I was a student, we also used to walk to school and would carry around 25 kilo bags for half an hour every day! (Talking like an old grand-pa here )

Dave1992 said:

chocolate1 said:

I live 5 minutes away from the school (about 20 minute walk), but it's really hard to drag a bag full of books and all the "crap" that teachers carry, so I choose not to.

I do find other places to walk, though.

Just asking out of interest: isn't there the possibility of leaving stuff at school? Our teachers always did that.

When I was a student, we also used to walk to school and would carry around 25 kilo bags for half an hour every day! (Talking like an old grand-pa here )

How do I get any work done if I don't bring it with me?

chocolate1 said:

Dave1992 said:

Just asking out of interest: isn't there the possibility of leaving stuff at school? Our teachers always did that.

When I was a student, we also used to walk to school and would carry around 25 kilo bags for half an hour every day! (Talking like an old grand-pa here )

How do I get any work done if I don't bring it with me?

Our teachers used to either stay at school to do much of correction work etc or do it inbetween hours (when they had free time at school), or simply work on one (two tops) classes/tasks per day, which would mean carrying a bag of say 20-50 books, which would not be that bad.

Dave1992 said:

chocolate1 said:

How do I get any work done if I don't bring it with me?

Our teachers used to either stay at school to do much of correction work etc or do it inbetween hours (when they had free time at school), or simply work on one (two tops) classes/tasks per day, which would mean carrying a bag of say 20-50 books, which would not be that bad.

Well, damn.

I've been doing it wrong all this time...

chocolate1 said:

Dave1992 said:

Our teachers used to either stay at school to do much of correction work etc or do it inbetween hours (when they had free time at school), or simply work on one (two tops) classes/tasks per day, which would mean carrying a bag of say 20-50 books, which would not be that bad.

Well, damn.

I've been doing it wrong all this time...

Didn't mean to sound disrespectful - I have absolutely no idea how "possible" or not this is for you etc.!

Dave1992 said:

chocolate1 said:

Well, damn.

I've been doing it wrong all this time...

Didn't mean to sound disrespectful - I have absolutely no idea how "possible" or not this is for you etc.!

Thanks.