An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that on average, middle aged Americans, are sicker than the Britons. It's not a class thing since the rich Americans are sicker than the rich Britons. And the death rate is about the same, it's just that the quality of health is lower and, surprise, it has to do with the quality of life.

According to a New York Times article, Michael Marmot, the professor who is a co-author of the report from University College London, believes that this is "due to the differences in the circumstances in which people live... Work, job insecurity, the nature of communities, residential communities, et cetera.." This has to do with lifestyle more than anything.

This includes the kind of places that we live in -- walkable streets, proximity to people, inviting public spaces, people oriented architecture, public transportation, aesthetics of everyday surroundings... The British inherited places built for walking and many of our cities were built for cars and offices, not people.

Sandon, a U. of Texas Prof. of clinical nutrition says that "we're treating the symptoms -- the heart disease, the diabetes, the hypertension, everything else. We're not addressing the underlying problem."

Jane Jacobs, who died last week at the age of at 89, understood one of these "underlying problems" to be our cities. She was one of the biggest advocates of messy, complex, busy city street environments, recognizing that our surroundings make a difference in how we interact and relate to one another. Places that invite the informal gathering of people, contribute to our sense of belonging, make walking interesting, reduce stress and so, affect physical health.

Jane Jacobs