I recently listened to a podcast that got me thinking about where children play.  In the podcast, James Howard Kunstler discusses the effects of suburban sprawl on childhood obesity.   If you think about the typical suburban community, like the one I grew up in in Maryland, the play areas for children are often created exclusively for playing.   I clearly remember the “playground” inside a local mall.  I’m sure many of you have play structures in your neighborhoods.

Oftentimes, parents take their children to these spaces because they are percieved as safe and comfortable.  They are specifically for children and allow kids to do something in a kid-safe environment.  This is also a reason why many families move out to the suburbs once they have kids.  Since downtowns don’t have play structures, they aren’t really supposed to be for kids, right?

But here’s the challenge and how I link it back to childhood obesity.  In addition to play structures in many neighborhoods in Ann Arbor, there have also been the creation of other place spaces that can pretty much only be gotten to by driving.   Think about Jungle Java for example, where kids can play while their parents sip coffee.  I know of two of these play spaces.  One is on Jackson after Wagner and the other is on Washtenaw.  Both locations are not very friendly to walking or biking.  So rather than kids being able to just walk to a place to play, they have to be driven to that place.  This is kind of how people who want to work out will drive 10 miles to go to the gym.

Here again is an interesting example of segregating uses for development.  Instead of everything being mixed into one community, so you can play, eat, shop, work, work-out, etc. in one place, all of those uses are spread apart so that you are encouraged to drive from one destination to the other.  And this could defintely make it harder to get the kinds of exercise that can keep all of us fit.  I’m talking about the little bits of exercise you get when you live in a walkable place where walking/biking is just a way to get around.

But here’s the challenge, suppose we want to encourage kids to be able to walk to places where they can place.  Since downtown Ann Arbor seems to be very walkable . . . how do we design places like downtown Ann Arbor in a way that is both friendly for kids and adults?  Do we actually need to do anything different?  Can kids “play” just fine without a specific place for them to do so?   Or do parents feel like downtown Ann Arbor would be a bad place to raise a child because of the lack of schools and other things kids need?

I guess the reason I am bringing all of this up is that I often hear that downtowns (including downtown Ann Arbor) are not good for families because they lack the type of spaces that families need.  But then many of these families move out to the suburbs and are forced to drive everywhere including to drop kids off at daycare, to go on play dates, etc.  Not only does this cut down on exercise, but it also takes time . . . time that could be spent in a community.

The more I look at these different issues, the more I see how important it is to create walkable spaces with a variety of uses that allow everyone–from a small child, to a teenager, to an adult, to a senior–to get around without having to drive.  It just seems to make sense.  But development still hasn’t caught up.  I wonder if other people feel the same way.