In a Chicago Tribune Op-Ed, the director of a recycling program at the University of Illinois at Chicago ponders the disappearance of walking to school in urban and suburban areas alike.
"The reality now is that hardly anyone walks to school anymore. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that back in 1960 about half of all kids walked or biked to school. Today that percentage has dropped to a mere 10 percent....Suburbs get built without sidewalks and wide, fast-moving highways become impassable barriers to school kids....In the city, walking should be easier, where streets tend to be narrow and sidewalks plentiful. But so is fear....It just seems to me that in the long-term, walking to school is becoming as endangered as Arctic permafrost or family sit-down dinners."
Thanks to Connie Chung
Read the full story: What ever happened to walking to school?
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority