urban sprawl feeds obesity

[Kitsune06]

People have a really funny way of going about prioritizing the things that most threaten their health and way of life.

I find it ironic that we can condemn one thing and yet be ambivalent about another... cycle to save gas and yet take cross-country flights every so often, condemn destructive ranching practices and yet use leather/meat/wool, condemn clear cutting and yet buy things with huge boxes and tons of wrapping paper, build wooden houses and move out into the newly cleared land- complain about urbane sprawl and yet not notice that cities sprawl because there are just more people, and people need somewhere to live. We *all* want that nice little ranch house with a yard and a dog etc etc...

The problem is, there just keep being more people to want that. Our kids grow up, and they want a house of their own. ...then they have kids and when they grow up, they'll want houses, too. Or apartments, or wherever... hence suburban sprawl. Americans want space, we don't want to live in apartments or flats on narrow little streets, just like we want our monster SUVs, our Vauxhalls and our Chevys, not the "little toy cars" we make fun of on european streets.

What Americans don't seem to get is that we have a decision to make- Either we are willing to settle for a little more crowding- a smaller yard, a smaller apartment, less sprawl and just larger buildings- or we realize that our children will never get to see the fields and forests we tear apart today to construct new apartment complexes and subdivisions. Already I've seen several field and forest areas fall to the hands of the urban (or suburban) developer... the fields across from my parents' house, the fields by my and my ex's old elementary schools, the pretty, wooded lot next to my apartment...

We've also got a problem with the European concept of zero or negative population growth. The population of the US and Canada will *double* in 117 years. Where do you think the sprawl will be then?
just saying.