> “living near a highway” sounds a lot like a euphemism for “living in the middle of nowhere”, since by definition all arterial roads connecting “somewhere” to

> “living near a highway” sounds a lot like a euphemism for “living in the middle of nowhere”, since by definition all arterial roads connecting “somewhere” to “somewhere” through “nowhere” are highways. The study uses a definition based on average vehicles per day that travel the road. I think you're interpreting "highway" like a road that connects two cities, which is one of the word's many meanings, but they are using a different definition. By using a traffic-based definition, this study is roughly counting the number of (running) cars that you're near. Also, with their definition, people in urban or rural areas can be either near or not near a highway. If you live in the middle of a city but you're removed from high-traffic roads by neighborhood streets with low traffic, you're not near a highway.