Two generations ago, most children walked to school. But the numbers have dropped significantly.
Victor Dover, an urban designer, asked participants at a public event about whether they and their parents walked to school and whether their children walk to school now.
The findings suggest a dramatic decline in children walking to school. Over 85 percent of people’s parents walked to school, but only 61 percent of respondents say they walked to school. And they report that only 10 percent of their children walk to school today.
The informal survey is in line with related data and research about trends in children’s travel behavior. "Children used to regularly walk to school, which gave them exercise, independence, and a connection to their community. Now they almost always are driven, partly because our communities are not designed to be walkable, on a human scale," notes Robert Steuteville.
FULL STORY: Walking to school, three generations
The number of kids walking to school dropped from over 50% to 11% since the 1960s
Unsafe pedestrian infrastructure makes walking to school dangerous or impossible for a growing number of American students.
Concrete to Community: A Schoolyard Makeover in West Philly
With guidance from the Trust for Public Land, third graders at Overbrook Elementary are leading the redesign of their asphalt schoolyard into a vibrant green space, learning valuable skills and creating lasting community impact in the process.
Cities and Test Scores
The latest test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress suggests that student learning has not recovered from its COVID-era decline. Is this more true for urban school districts than for the rest of the United States?
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association