Returning to Walkable Spaces and Neighborliness for Our Health and Joy

Sometimes, the past is the best place to find answers for the future. Progress isn’t always what it seems, especially when it leads to habits that result in unhealthy living. In the future, I would return to simpler means of getting around.

I would design cities, even in rural areas, with wide and flat sidewalks through subdivisions, allowing people to walk side by side in the cool of the evening. Parents and children, couples, or neighbors strolling as they talk, able to concentrate on the words and not constantly watch out for cars. This is a healthier way for body, mind, and soul.

I would once again place schools, places of worship, and stores within walking distance so that the stress of driving doesn’t steal one’s joy from the trip. Instead, the walk from home to the church, school, or even the store would be a time to reflect on God’s nature and the beauty around us so that we are already thankful when we arrive.

COVID allowed many people to realize the expense of health and wealth from long commutes. The wear and tear on our bodies and souls was just as significant as on the streets we drive on. So, people choose to work from home when possible. Having places where cars are less needed would add to everyone’s quality of life.

Lastly, I would design cities where homes have porches and children play outside again. At the same time, neighbors talk to one another and wave to each other, making neighborhoods places to gather and unite rather than divide us as we enter our garages and don’t know what neighbors look like. Schools would be within walking distance, so children could learn how to maneuver in the world, and the walks would be healthy for them in every way.

I know that everything wasn’t perfect in the past! But, how we live separated today and not aware of the people around us leaves the part of our souls that feels joy in knowing people and learning how to talk and live together, lost and hungering for closeness and companionship among the people nearest to us: our neighbors. Fewer opportunities for driving isn’t the only answer. Yet, in a world where obesity, adult diseases, and mental health problems are increasing in children, they are often not aware of the neighbors next door or across the street who might help them in times of trouble. It is not a world where you can live healthy for your body, mind, or soul. Returning to some degree to walking and communicating would be great additions to our lives.