Exercise Your Brain
Posted January 31, 2011
Even if conditions do not permit outdoor exercise, you can stay indoors, stay on the topic of walking, and exercise your brain all at the same time by checking out these links to new walking-related reports, blog posts, and studies.
- Estimating the Employment Impacts of Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Road Infrastructure, (PDF, 811 KB, Adobe Reader required) a Baltimore-based case study prepared by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This report correlates job creation to specific types of transportation infrastructure projects. Click here for an interpretation of the findings from the New Urban Network.
- Affordable Housing Saving Families Money and Time, an Arlington blog post, connects affordable housing with walkability and public transit. Families that move into affordable rental apartments supported by the County often end up living much closer to their jobs, saving themselves money and time. Shorter commutes benefit everyone by getting cars off the roads, thereby reducing congestion and pollution, (see “It’s a Good Day in Arlington”) and making it easier for employers to attract quality employees.
- Examining Walkability and Social Capital as Indicators of Quality of Life at the Municipal and Neighborhood Scales by multiple authors, looks at the social benefits of walkability. Through a case study approach, this article argues that the "generation and maintenance of social capital is another important component of quality of life that may be facilitated by living in a walkable community."
These are just a few of the most recent publications that reinforce what we all know -- that walking is good for the body, mind, community, economy, and planet!
