Just this morning, the neighborhood parents and I had an interesting discussion at the end of my driveway, after the school bus pulled away. Our kids were off in their big yellow bus, which will return to the roadways later this afternoon.
After school, one of the children would be shuttled off to football, three of the children would be shuttled off to the Awana program at church. Later they would all be picked up again.
An older sibling would drive home from school, grab a snack and then drive herself out to dance class One of the parents would be going out to do shopping.
In just one day, there was so much driving going on, so much fuel being consumed and so much toxic chemicals being released into the atmosphere. How is this different from our own childhoods? Well, the parents and I discovered in the conversation that it was more different that we thought.
Neighborhoods today seem to be placed far from centers of schools, shopping and town centers. Growing up, each of us could recall, as kids, being able to walk or bike to our various events and activities, either with friends or with adults, depending on age. Housing was built not in separate developments tucked away, but around the center of things to make getting from one place to another easy to do on foot. It was walkable living.
Today, things are quite different. The school is a 15 minute ride away by car (40 minutes by school bus). Walking to the closest grocery store would take at least half a day just to get there and another half to return. Gone are the corner grocery stores. Instead we drive to shopping super centers far from our regular living centers.
Major cities are the exceptions. They often get a lot of flack for the levels of waste and pollution, but the truth is that there is a lot more walking going on in cities than in our suburban landscapes.
What do you think?
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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