Are our cities making us fat? Um, yes.

Not quite as full-tilt at Tech Ed today, so I have a little time to post.

This one caught my eye on MSNBC today - urban/suburban/exurban design does not promote walking and fitness.

Duh.

I have been walking my kazoo off while in Boston for the simple reason there are things to walk TO. I walk to the T, to restaurants, to meet people, you name it. And the route is enjoyable (there is NOTHING like a cold-weather city when the weather is nice - EVERYONE is out), so I find myself walking two or three T stations down, rather than just going into the one across from the hotel or the BCEC.

Contrast this to lovely and crime-free Frisco TX, where there are a ton of places to walk (trails and whatnot), but nowhere to walk to. You can do the hike/bike trail thing all you want, but it doesn't get you anywhere.

These things are so obvious it makes me want to find the editors of MSNBC (and other news publications) and give them a hard shake.