Downtown areas in America’s large cities are being reclaimed and revitalized, and more and more old-fashioned neighborhoods and small towns being designed and built. The first “new” small town that I have experienced is Mt Laurel, near Birmingham, Alabama.
Sixteen years ago, when we came back from Venezuela and I started teaching undergraduate food and nutrition classes, I found a wonderful organic farm and farmer’s market in Mt Laurel. I grew to appreciate the farmer and Mt Laurel as I took my food and nutrition classes on field trips there every year. In Mt Laurel, the school, churches, restaurants, florist and city center are all connected by sidewalks, just like the small south Alabama town where I visited my grandmother every summer.
Small-town life
A group of urban planners, especially those known as “new urbanists”, have re-embraced the quaint idea that small-town life is the best. After focusing for years on Americans’ diets, health experts have turned to assess the degree to which the American car dependency contributes to obesity, hypertension, coronary disease, diabetes, asthma, even mental disorders, like anxiety and depression.
With the results showing links between suburbs and risks for these conditions, the public health fields are beginning to study the effect of urban sprawl on health and to try to find solutions. The new urbanism puts the importance of place back in the community, where the people are the most important and most valuable commodity.
Small-town living, whether in a new or revitalized community, brings a higher quality of life and better places to live, work and play. It means less traffic congestion and less driving. It means a healthier lifestyle with more walking, with the close proximity to retail and service, and less stress. Pedestrian-friendly communities give residents more of an opportunity to know each other.
More freedom
One of the things I miss about Venezuela is knowing my baker, butcher, and vegetable and fruit vendor (who sold from his truck)! Small-town living gives the children more freedom to play and the elderly and the poor more freedom to live independently and get jobs since they do not need a car. Children could walk or bike to school. More diverse mom-and-pop shops and stores with local owners are present and involved in the community. A lot of gasoline money is saved, since fewer people have to drive and own cars. A better sense of place, community and ownership exists.
I have said many times that I felt more at home in my little neighborhood in the enormous city of Caracas, Venezuela, than in the life we live in suburban Birmingham where we literally drive everywhere. That is really a shame. But there is hope! Just recently in the commercial district where we live, the city is putting in sidewalks to connect some of our schools with each other and the library! That is so exciting!
As a helpful resource, I have lots of articles on healthy ingredients and recipes that you can implement into your daily life.
If you’d like to dig deeper into my journey of discovering God’s plan for health and wellness, check out my book, Made For Paradise: God’s Original Plan for Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, and Rest.
