IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

HEALTH BENEFITS AGES 8 TO 80

                                 (Clematis Street West Palm Beach, FLA -- by Dover Kohl Partners)

When it comes to health's "magic pill,” Gil Penalosa, founder and chair of the Toronto-based planning non-profit 8 80 Cities points to active transportation.

"The answer is getting around by walking, crutches, wheelchair — I don't care how you move, but you need to move about in ways other than using a car. 

It's also very crucial to mental health,'' he says. 

"The only places where large amounts of people walk at least five days a week are those with the infrastructure to support walking, biking, transit, and mobility for people with disabilities."

Importantly, Penalosa advocates for well-built sidewalks in suburban towns and rural villages, too, not just urban areas. 

He notes that even areas without much density might still have bus routes that rely on sidewalk connectivity.

"There are studies that show that when [aging residents] lose their driving privileges, it is as traumatic as a cancer diagnosis. 

Because in so many cities, the car is the only way to be mobile and make a doctor's appointment or grocery run," he says. 

"In walkable cities with transit, losing a car doesn't mean losing your friends, your stores, your places you've gone all your life."