Y: Is lowering your blood pressure and improving heart health as simple as moving to a more walkable neighborhood?
D: Uhm...is that a rhetorical question, or are you asking me?
Y: It was sort of rhetorical, I guess...but what do you think?
D: I think it makes sense that if you live in a neighborhood where you can walk to places to do errands and such, that would be good for your health.
Y: And you would be right. In fact, one study done by researchers at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto found that, on average, people who move from neighborhoods that require a car to do errands to those where you can walk to shops and stores are significantly less likely to have high blood pressure than those who stay in the less walkable neighborhoods.
D: I suppose that's not too surprising.
Y: Right. Now, of course, it's probably not realistic for most people to simply pick up and move to a more walkable neighborhood. And many American suburbs, if not most, are not very walking friendly...at least not for doing errands.
D: True. But I guess people can still walk, even if they're not walking to the store.
Y: Sure. But I think the point is that if you live in a place where you can walk to the store, you're more likely to do more walking, because you have a practical reason for doing it.
D: That makes sense. Too bad urban planners haven't designed more neighborhoods to be more pedestrian friendly.
Y: Too bad, for sure.
