5 ms·
It's because they walk.
by peg_leg 10y ago
It's because they walk.
- guscost 10y agoI would put a lot of money on this as well.
- morgante 10y agoI'd expect that to apply equally to wealthier people too, but the inter-city gap disappears at higher income levels. Wealthy New Yorkers also walk a lot more than wealthy people in other countries. New Yorkers definitely walk a lot more, but I don't think that explains the full effect.
- songshu 10y agoI have no idea what effect the walking is having, but would point out that wealthy non-new Yorkers have other routes to attain the benefits of walking, such as gym time and hiking trips. You can't say the same of poor non-new Yorkers.
- cwilson 10y agoThe walking and the stairs. So many stairs. I don't know many friends who live in buildings with elevators, especially in the outer boroughs. We live in a four-story walk-up in Brooklyn, have stairs in our duplex to go to the second story/loft, and walk up and down subway stairs on a daily basis. So all those stairs plus generally walking everywhere around the city equals a lot more exercise on a daily basis than the average person (is my guess). It's night and day versus growing up in Austin, where I drove everywhere, rarely used stairs, and walking consisted of taking out the garbage to the curb.
- merpnderp 10y agoAbsolutely this. Lots of people I know who've lost tons of weight started attempting to eat better and then walked an hour or more a day. I started walking every day and dropped my resting pulse into the 50's, and lowered my blood pressure from barely normal, to near athletic. All that walking is just awesome for people's health. And most people in the US don't get much exercise.
- MattRogish 10y agoI gained about 15 lb relocating out of NYC & working from home. Didn't change diet - I lost the ~30 minutes of NYC-fast-walking I did every day (to/from subway on each end). Now, whenever I am out visiting clients etc. in the city I peg my Apple Watch's fitness meter - most days I barely get anywhere. Was eye opening - I now start my day with 45-60 minutes of moderate cycling and I've dropped back to my pre-work-from-home weight and noticeably/significantly raised my energy level. I now acutely understand the plight facing our suburban citizens.
- rbcgerard 10y ago100% - when I go home to NYC average daily walking is 5-8 miles vs. 1-3 in Houston...an extra 5+ miles a day in walking adds up...
- davidu 10y agoI came here to say this. The health benefits for the heart and lungs of "active walking" are well established and anecdotally, people in NYC just walk from place to place constantly vs. other cities. Even metros like SFO. It's even worse in places like Atlanta and Dallas where you basically have to drive from place to place.