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Another and often ignored factor is how sedentary american culture is. Driving is ubiquitous with more people commuting by bicycle in Copenhagen than in all of the US. American grocery stores are surrounded by a sea of parking while in the rest of the world most people would walk to their local store. One thing that struck me in the US was how common escalators are. Lawn mowers nearly always have an engine in the US and are often ones the user sits on. In other places a person mowing grass is more likely to walk. Even fit Americans don't move that much. Fit Americans tend to be sedentary nearly all the time except for four hours a week of vigorous fitness. Gym culture is bigger in the US than in much of Europe. What is missing is movement in every day life.
I don’t see how you fix that when the best way to keep thieves away from your property is to keep it unwalkable and keep public transportation out. In dense parts of the urban landscape, walking is marginal during the day and probably unwise at night unless you’re in a group. That doesn’t get fixed unless you can keep the drugs and crime out by a method other than building the environment such that you need a personal vehicle to get around that area. I live in the county surrounding St. Louis, and the neighborhoods near m3 that would be considered “walkable” also are poor areas that have bars on their windows. No one with the means to afford something better wants to live in a place like that, and so while nobody says so out loud, those with the means want to have to drive around because that means that you don’t have the low income housing and issues that come with it.
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It's why I am adamant on living in the few dense pockets of American cities. I've started step tracking and the difference is stark. If I take public transit to work & do groceries on foot, it's trivial to pass 10k steps. If I am in-and-out of a car all day, then it's hard to crack even half that. Have you tried to make up for a 5k step deficit ? It takes a whole hour of walking on the treadmill !
It shouldn't be too hard. All a family needs is -
There are practically zero places in the US that satisfy all these requirements.
Some parts of Greater-Boston & NYC are the only 2 that semi-satisfy this requirement, and they're definitely borderline for #5. I'm also cheating on public schools for NYC/Boston proper because all the good public schools are competitive exam-schools which your child may not get into. I'm lucky. Bellevue WA is the worst I have had to deal with. Can't imagine how bad it is in proper suburbia.
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