VIDEO - Walkable neighborhoods
City planners who espouse traditional neighborhood design or "new urbanism" point to numerous reasons why Americans would benefit from leaving the car at home as much as possible.
Cost
Despite the recent dip in the price of gas, most observers suggest that gas prices are likely to rise again. Aside from gas costs, many car owners forget to add in all the other costs of car ownership. Car payments, insurance, repairs, licensing and gas can easily add $700 a month to your budget -- and that is only if you park for free at both ends of your car trips.
Environment
According to Edmunds.com, the average car spews out 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year.
Health
Recent research suggests that living in the car-dependent suburbs may be making us fat. A study reported in the American Journal of Public Health found that living in the most sprawling of suburbs can add more than 6 pounds to the average person's weight compared to someone living in more walkable areas, such as New York's Manhattan. The difference, which also showed up in higher blood pressure and other weight-related illnesses, was attributed to the fact that suburbanites walk less.
Social awareness
People who walk on their neighborhood sidewalks are likely to run into other people and may end up stopping to chat and catch up on neighborhood news. People in cars are more likely only to wave if they see someone they know. Then the drivers pull into their attached garages and walk straight into the house without ever having a real interaction.
