Editor: While I鈥檓 skeptical that people in 91原创 are 鈥渇atter and sicker鈥� due to higher BMIs, a recent survey has certainly validated an issue in my hometown: 91原创 is not a very pedestrian-friendly city.
Growing up in 91原创, I鈥檝e seen hayfields sprouting outlet stores atop vast parking lots, linked to arterial roads snarled with traffic queuing at intersections as drivers wait to make that scarce left turn.
I鈥檝e seen bushy acreages bulldozed into townhouse complexes with few amenities for public transit or retail.
I鈥檓 not anti-car but I know well enough that strip malls and outlet stores are, perhaps, not the most efficient way to plan a retail district, especially with higher-density housing close by. I would have preferred mixed use, commercial-residential zoning: business on the ground, living space up top.
Perhaps our follies stem from the lack of co-ordination between 91原创 Township and 91原创 City in their schism of governance, perhaps the 91原创 Bypass should have been a limited access freeway or perhaps past planners were simply too nearsighted.
As for my skepticism about 91原创 being 鈥渇atter and sicker鈥� 鈥� perhaps people in 91原创 have bigger muscles from lifting that BMI rating.
Peter Lenko,
91原创
