So What, Who Cares (vol 1, issue 2) Why treehouses will be the next hot urban thing
"We've had a summer of downer news," says a lady who equates the death of a celebrity with the ongoing series of horrific state collapses in the Middle East and/or the total incineration of the U.S. Constitution in Missouri and/or the spread of a virus that makes Captain Tripps look like a case of opera-style consumption.
We sure have. We’ve also had these things to pay attention to:
America's wage gap between high- and low-earners is growing substantially.
So what? Given that the majority of jobs created in this "recovery" are low-wage jobs, the widening gap adds evidence that the middle class in the U.S. is shrinking rapidly.
Who cares? People in the middle class, who are facing ever-limited job prospects in a time when child care, college costs, health care -- all of which are huge factors in income opportunities and mobility -- continue to rise unchecked. Also caring: people in the 'burbs, which have seen the fastest growth in poverty since 2000.
*
Speaking of the 'burbs, urban researchers are not sure if they're killing you because they're making you fat or if people who hate exercise and healthy BMIs love living in the 'burbs. Either way, one thing is clear: people who live in communities where the streets are arranged in a dense, grid-like pattern tend to be healthier and more active than the poor suckers who live in those sprawling cul-de-sacs out in the middle of former farm country.
So what? America's increasing wage stratification is also a regional and geographic stratification: Poverty's rising in the 'burbs while coastal cities and older urban regions are becoming high-employment/high-income areas. So people may not have much of a choice as to where they can live, and they're doubly hosed: Their neighborhoods aren't conducive to daily exercise and their commutes are taking years off their lives.
Who cares? Public health professionals, who are not terribly thrilled that our urban planning is hostile to people's health (but not to some people's profits) and/or anyone who wants to find an affordable place to live that will not make them gain 40 pounds in the first year of living there.
*
One more urban-planning note: Living near trees is good for you. These arboreal altruists suck up urban pollution like whoa, and one company is actually betting that planting forests will revive Detroit.
So what? So living in a vast expanse of car-choked development and not very much greenery is bad for you. There's also rising evidence that we need to be around trees and natures not to go bananas.
Who cares? This ties back into the 'burbs/poverty issue, because the neighborhoods that tend to have more trees and green space tend to be richer neighborhoods. It's yet another health metric that illustrates how where you live can really affect your overall longevity.
*
One final note: I just saw the documentary 112 Weddings, which is about life after the wedding for nine couples. It's not nearly so verite as Michael Apted's Married in America series (which follows couples at five-year intervals and appears to have petered out) but it is an excellent look at the impact children have on a relationship. It should be required viewing for couples planning to marry or have kids; those of us who have already done both can watch and wince in recognition at some of the interactions between partners.