As many Americans are enjoying their summer vacations, it’s a good time to look at studies on the tourism and economic benefits that bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure can generate. While this may not seem immediately relevant to our day-to-day work of making schools and neighborhoods safer for walking and bicycling, policymakers can be strongly influenced by economic arguments.
Richard Louv coined the term “nature-deficit disorder,” in his award winning book Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. He recounts how children are spending progressively less time outdoors in free, unstructured play, and how wide-ranging the negative repercussions might be as children disconnect from the natural world.
Did you know that about 45 percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions each year? As you can guess, favorite resolutions include losing weight, exercising more, and saving more money. Do you also know that ultimately only about 8 percent of resolutions are sustained?
In an April 2013 interview, then-US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin talked about the importance of enjoying exercise: “It's all about having healthy fun. We need to find things to make it fun, like walking.
The back to school essay topic “What I did on my summer vacation” is a time worn favorite, particularly for elementary teachers and students. One day late in August, Grandma asked my niece and nephews, “What was your favorite part of your vacation at the beach last week with your family?” Both of my nephews chose a bike-related activity: “Riding my bike to the smoothie store by myself with
In June 2013, the American College of Sports Medicine released their most recent fitness ranking of the 50 largest US metropolitan areas.