Why Johnny Can't Walk to School

In a Chicago Tribune Op-Ed, the director of a recycling program at the University of Illinois at Chicago ponders the disappearance of walking to school in urban and suburban areas alike.

1 minute read

November 24, 2003, 9:00 AM PST

By Connie Chung


"The reality now is that hardly anyone walks to school anymore. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that back in 1960 about half of all kids walked or biked to school. Today that percentage has dropped to a mere 10 percent....Suburbs get built without sidewalks and wide, fast-moving highways become impassable barriers to school kids....In the city, walking should be easier, where streets tend to be narrow and sidewalks plentiful. But so is fear....It just seems to me that in the long-term, walking to school is becoming as endangered as Arctic permafrost or family sit-down dinners."

Thanks to Connie Chung

Friday, November 21, 2003 in The Chicago Tribune

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