3 ms·

With so many people living in big cities, this doesn't surprise me. If you live in a big metro area, getting out of the city limits might take an hour or more a

With so many people living in big cities, this doesn't surprise me. If you live in a big metro area, getting out of the city limits might take an hour or more and requires having a car. Outdoor recreation areas inside city limits or near city limits are already over-crowded. That alone makes proper outdoor activities like mountain biking, rock climbing, or hiking difficult to do. The article shows pictures from Grand Junction and other parts of Colorado where outdoor recreation is generally easy and accessible, but a lot of cities make it far more difficult to venture out and in big parts of the country outdoor recreation just sucks unless you travel. I lived in Central California for years and moved away because hot summers, dry, boring terrain, and distance to decent trails made riding my bike or hiking extremely time consuming (or just lame). If cities want people outdoors (and they should), they need big walkable greenbelts, and big parks with recreation options in or very near city limits. Many cities have really terrible options for getting out.

Pxtl 7y ago
Ironically if you look at a place like Hong Kong you'll see highrise right next to wild mountains. In North America, everyone wanting to be close to nature has blocked off the next person from being close to nature.
drdeadringer 7y ago
I think I agree. I have a list of "outdoor" places I want to visit for various reasons, ranging from a specific highway rest stop mentioned in a fictional podcast episode to national parks. All of these require a vehicle. If I were to start visiting tomorrow, I would need to rent a vehicle. Do I live in an urban setting? Yes. Do I still go outside for recreation? Yes. I am fortunate enough to walk, I am fortunate to have parks and bike trails within walking distance to my living place and I do those things, and like this. Does any of this count as the posted article's "outdoor recreation"? Good question. For me, yes. I get outside. I want to avoid cabin fever. I want fresh air more than two open windows giving a cross-breeze [which is also great].

Pxtl 7y ago

Ironically if you look at a place like Hong Kong you'll see highrise right next to wild mountains. In North America, everyone wanting to be close to nature has blocked off the next person from being close to nature.

drdeadringer 7y ago

I think I agree. I have a list of "outdoor" places I want to visit for various reasons, ranging from a specific highway rest stop mentioned in a fictional podcast episode to national parks. All of these require a vehicle. If I were to start visiting tomorrow, I would need to rent a vehicle. Do I live in an urban setting? Yes. Do I still go outside for recreation? Yes. I am fortunate enough to walk, I am fortunate to have parks and bike trails within walking distance to my living place and I do those things, and like this. Does any of this count as the posted article's "outdoor recreation"? Good question. For me, yes. I get outside. I want to avoid cabin fever. I want fresh air more than two open windows giving a cross-breeze [which is also great].