Health

Thanks to your responses, a new collaborative Google map, called Aging in Connected Places, which intends to track especially great places to age, is born.

Health is determined by planning, architecture, transportation, housing, energy, and other disciplines at least as much as it is by medical care.

Accessibility for seniors includes walkable proximity to daily needs and transit. Still, with my own parents in mind, I’ve been looking at places that have been taking supportive aging to the next step.

Ever have trouble going out for a run? Know how much easier that gets when your good friend hits the road with you?

 A couple of weeks ago I floated some ideas on a national Urban Happiness Index. An alternative idea would be the Healthy Place Index.

Building a strong town is ultimately about more than just the finance of our places. While that is important, to endure, a place needs to also nurture our bodies and our souls.

We’re starting to get our arms around some of the bigger public health issues connecting society with the built environment, particularly on the obesity, diabetes and depression fronts.

Among the Big Issues awaiting communities after we shake off the post-recession blues is what to do about demography. Particularly the part about America’s aging population.

We design for the peak hour or two and then, for the rest of the day, all of that capacity goes to waste.