1960-2009 Drop in cycling & walking rates in U.S.

[Tri Girl]

I wonder if some of it has less to do with car traffic, particularily if the neighbourhood is not that car intensive vs. fear of predators snatching/luring an innocent kid that some parents may have.

Probably a little bit of both. Times have changed in so many ways, haven't they? I know some friends who won't even let their kids play in the front yard- even under their supervision. There were predators when 35 years ago we were kids (a girl in my neighborhood was kidnapped, actually), but I don't think the media got a hold of it and we didn't have 24 hour news to make us feel frightened and paranoid of so many things happening to us IMHO. We didn't have news from around the nation at all times telling us all the bad things that happen.

I was dismayed to hear my 10 yr. old niece (who has ice hockey and gymnastics outside of school) say in the car, "I don't like walking".

I overheard a few kids during our Bike and Walk to School event last year say "walking and riding bikes isn't cool." And there you go. These were 3rd graders. Since when is walking or biking "nerdy"? Ugh... took all I had to not say something, especially since I ride my bike to work every day (maybe if I wasn't a teacher there I would have).

I wonder what would happen if we overlaid the CDC obesity map with one constructed from this chart...(but we'd need more information than this provides).

That's very interesting! I would like to see this done.

It's a self-perpetuating problem, though, in newer areas. Everyone becomes car-dependent, for one reason or another, and since everyone is car-dependent, it becomes okay for city/community planners to okay development of shopping/dining areas miles away from residential ones, which reinforces dependence on cars.

I agree- it's a vicious cycle. When we got away from downtown areas and started the suburban sprawl, it got easier to build things further away from centers of commerce/business.