Why cities like Paris are good for the body

We live in Paris now, and hardly ever drive. I wrote about why, and what this means for physical and mental health, in my hometown paper, The Toronto Star.

By that I mean, it seemed I didn’t actually need my body to do anything. I just had to slip into a car. Walking for transportation or taking the bus in the suburb where I was staying was a last resort, almost as unthinkable as it was inefficient. So whenever I could, I drove, strapping my kids into car seats around their winter gear while they cried. The less I used my body to move, the less I felt the need for any physical activity. The more I had to rely on the car to get anywhere, the less I wanted to go anywhere.  

The piece goes on to make a larger point about something I’ve learned living in Vienna, and now Paris. It’s not just a historical accident that makes walking, cycling, and taking public transit easier here compared to North American post-car cities like Toronto. The European capitals are in a cutthroat competition to reclaim urban spaces for humans, while actively discouraging car use. They’re constantly upping the game — building new metro stops, expanding cycling lanes, pedestrianizing streets, increasing the cost of parking in city centers — and on and on. It’s no wonder surveys have repeatedly found that walking, biking, and transit are the most common methods of getting around in Paris and Vienna.

In other news, I recently talked about obesity and Ozempic with the excellent Helena Bottemiller Evich of Food Fix, a must-read food policy newsletter. Check out Food Fix here.

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