As Suburbs Grow, So Do Waistlines (NY Times article, registration required)
…While urban planners tend to discuss the suburbs in quality-of-life terms, researchers increasingly use clinical measures like anxiety, depression and substance abuse. The number of prescriptions for antidepressants has increased remarkably, a point Dr. Jackson makes to suggest that although the suburbs were built for convenience, they may also have wrought their share of frustration by placing life’s staples a long drive from home.
People in many suburban neighborhoods find that the streets they live on practically invite them to stay in their cars. There is often simply no sidewalk, forcing some suburbanites to put on their running shoes and pedometers inside giant malls, clocking miles as they pass the various cookie stands, ice cream shops and bagel makers…