Gee, what town comes to mind when you read that? Or county?

Wait till one of those Bradford Pear trees falls on you!

The research showed that exercisers had a similarly low obesity rate whether they lived in walkable neighborhoods or not. It was 12 percent for those in walkable areas versus 15 percent in non-walkable neighborhoods, a difference that was not statistically significant.

Among those who prefer to drive, however, about 21.5 percent were obese, and it also didn’t matter whether they lived in walkable or non-walkable neighborhoods.

Is the headline correct?

Magnolia Ave out Rutledge Pike comes to mind. Where are the bicyclists? In West Knoxville: Kingston Pike, Northshore, Lyons Viewless, Westland.

Long ago, before moving here, I rode 25+ miles every week, from my house, on the wide shoulder of the roads. Northshore could be such a scenic route, but with no shoulder - not to mention sidewalks, it is too dangerous for my old self.

Rambling on, there are KAT signs all along Northshore - practically in the ditch! I've never seen anyone, dead or alive, waiting there for the bus.

I know, this has nothing to do with the study... sorry.

Not OT at all BD.

You've illustrated that the growth of West Knox has increased the demand of potential bikers while decreasing the supply of routes that seem bikeable. interesting conundum.

While you don't see many bikers on Magnolia, you will see them on Fifth where the trafic is lighter. You see bikers on Blount Ave - I'll guess about 2/3 recreational and 1/3 transportation.

As for West knox - do you know about the 3rd creek Bike trail? I'd suggest the bike trail to Westwood, cross over to the back roads behind Buddy's, make your way over to Deane Hill, then out Westland to points further west. I'd be interested to know if that is a comfortable biking route for you. I think it's a lot less traffic than Northshore although Westland is getting heavy.

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Less is the new More - Karrie Jacobs

Without knowing methodology, the report does seem to state that people who live in walkable neighborhoods drive less, and by a large amount, than those who live in non-walkable neighborhoods. Exercise/obesity notwithstanding. If valid, that would be major.

Exercisers in walkable neighborhoods drove 26 miles a day, while those in non-walkable neighborhoods drove about 37 miles.

Among non-exercisers, those in walkable neighborhoods drove 26 miles, and compared to 43 miles in areas that were mostly car-friendly.

I love the old fashioned city neighborhood where you could walk a few blocks and get a cup of coffee or a lunch, buy some bakery goods, have your hair done, get an ice cream cone or visit a variety store or hardware store. The strip malls to a large extent ruined the idea of neighborhood commerce. Also too many corporate and ugly convience/gas stations made residents wary of letting businesses into their neighborhoods. I love to walk to the store, but my only choices are a Latino grocery, a gas station and a small pharmacy. I do have that wonderful FATS BBQ here, but it's mostly take out. The outside tables are too hot in the summer and too close to traffic. Is it lack of parking, zoning, or the fact that people prefer to drive to the malls to shop? It used to be that you could find a cluster of really attractive neighborhood stores every five or six blocks. I think that made people walk more.

"I love the old fashioned city neighborhood where you could walk a few blocks and get a cup of coffee or a lunch, buy some bakery goods, have your hair done, get an ice cream cone or visit a variety store or hardware store."

Wow, you just described Sevier Ave. circa 1965 exactly. I know this has been discussed before, but somebody remind me.

When and why did this change? Why is it the only people who can make a profit are big national chains with big box stores and acres of parking?

When and why did this change? Why is it the only people who can make a profit are big national chains with big box stores and acres of parking?

I think "why it changed" was because the large stores could buy in bulk and were able to purchase the products at a lower price. They in turn could sell the items to the consumer cheaper than the Mom and Pop stores could, and so, everybody chose to go to the larger stores to save money. More and more people were beginning to own cars and at the time and it wasn't considered a bad thing to waste gasoline. A trip too these larger stores was considered an adventure, you could find things there that you couldn't find in the small stores. Now it seems the trend has reversed and the interesting items are now found in the smaller businesses.

Adrift in the Sea of Humility