Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
Did you ride your bike to school as a kid? According to this piece on NPR, back in 1969 nearly half of children got to school on foot or by bike. Today, that figure is closer to 13%. Reporter David Darlington talks about what has changed – from concerns about liability to sprawling neighbourhood design to a changing understanding of bikes as recreation rather than transportation.
Image from sfbike
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2 comments
Why are kids obese? Because their parents chauffeur them everywhere. Especially, if they live in suburbs or a venue is in the suburbs. And once they reach 16, they ask for the car keys instead of walking or taking public transit to get around.
I moved to Danforth East and being off work the last number of weeks have watched the kids going to/from school – a LOT of them walk both ways (or skip in some cases!), and they are often skateboarding on the residential streets ’round here on their lunch break. It’s also pretty common to see mum or dad walking them and the family dog to school. It was quite surprising actually. Not many bikers though, it’s true.