from Streetsblog.net by Smart Growth Around America<\/p>\n
Like many Americans, I grew up knowing only one type of community design \u2014 drivable suburbia<\/a><\/strong>. In my community, exercise wasn\u2019t something that happened naturally over the course of the day. It required carving out designated time slots from a crowded schedule.<\/p>\n Frankly, that didn\u2019t happen as often as it should.<\/p>\n Since that time, I\u2019ve learned that cultivating a more active lifestyle doesn\u2019t have to mean finding a 25th hour in the day. Moving to a walkable, mixed-use, smart growth community quite literally changed my life \u2014 with, as it turns out, more significant health benefits than I\u2019d initially realized.<\/p>\n For example, in a new study<\/a><\/strong>, the American Lung Association in California has thrown its support behind that state\u2019s plans for more smart growth communities because of the striking positive health implications.<\/p>\n \u201cIf doctors and other health experts designed our cities, they would look quite different than the sprawling communities we see today,\u201d said Sonal R. Patel, M.D., American Lung Association in California Board Member and Director of White Memorial Pediatric Medical Groups Division of Allergy and Immunology in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n \u201cCities would provide more healthy choices, more opportunities for walking and biking, better access to transit, less congestion, more housing close to workplaces and more parks for kids and families to enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n