Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No, because you put artificial conditions on it. It's very unlikely that in reality, the small apartment would be located in the same sprawling McMansion-filled suburb. It's far more likely the apartment is in a more urban setting, where people are walking more outside of their home. So sure, if you want to measure it solely as walking within the confines of one's home, a larger home means more steps. But that's a pretty tortured scenario created to support a supposition.
There are absolutely apartments in the suburbs. Particularly sun belt. Even elsewhere. I know for a fact New Jersey has a lot of suburban apartments because at one point I was looking for one.
Anyway, one thing to consider for apartments is distance to car. At my last apartment and my current one, I definitely walk farther to get to my car compared to someone in house that can park in a garage or even in their driveway. Inside, I definitely walk a lot less.
Having stairs and a need to go up and down regularly is great exercise. I am positive that someone in a small house who is constantly climbing stairs (like me) has an advantage over a person in a huge house who just strolls around on a single floor.
There are absolutely apartments in the suburbs. Particularly sun belt. Even elsewhere. I know for a fact New Jersey has a lot of suburban apartments because at one point I was looking for one.
Anyway, one thing to consider for apartments is distance to car. At my last apartment and my current one, I definitely walk farther to get to my car compared to someone in house that can park in a garage or even in their driveway. Inside, I definitely walk a lot less.
I've lived in suburbs, and am familiar with them. While they do have apartment buildings, in my experience, these are not generally interspersed among the blocks of single family homes situated on large lots. They tend to be congregated in the more commercial areas - and yes, even suburbs do have commercial areas with shopping centers and strip malls where you can walk a reasonable distance to grab a cup of coffee or a newspaper or pick up some milk, as opposed to driving 5 minutes before you even get out of your subdevelopment.
Are there exceptions to this, sure, of course there are. But I just don't think there are lots of apartment buildings on the same blocks as a bunch of McMansions.
I don't live in a big house, but the way it's laid out--basically a U-shape--I end up walking around a lot--to the laundry room, bathroom, etc. When I wear my Fitbit, I log in a lot of steps.
I've lived in suburbs, and am familiar with them. While they do have apartment buildings, in my experience, these are not generally interspersed among the blocks of single family homes situated on large lots. They tend to be congregated in the more commercial areas - and yes, even suburbs do have commercial areas with shopping centers and strip malls where you can walk a reasonable distance to grab a cup of coffee or a newspaper or pick up some milk, as opposed to driving 5 minutes before you even get out of your subdevelopment.
Are there exceptions to this, sure, of course there are. But I just don't think there are lots of apartment buildings on the same blocks as a bunch of McMansions.
Well of course they aren't in the middle of subdivisions, but they're still in car dependent suburbs. I've come across plenty of apartments that aren't really walking distance from anything (just like it can take nearly 5 minutes to drive out of a subdivision, it can take 5+ minutes just to walk from the deepest end of apartment complexes). Even if they are near some shops, it's not necessarily designed that way. My last apartment was adjacent to a few shops and right across the street from a Kroger. There was even a subdivision with some houses that were even closer to the Kroger. But no one built the apartment complex or subdivision with walkability to shops in mind, they built it there because it had great access to an expressway and other major roads. Which consequently, is where commercial development happens.
The only exceptions I see, is the trend to have these mixed use developments with apartments on top of shops. Usually it's parking in the rear with sidewalks in front of stores, or with a central parking garage. Instead of having multiple small buildings with units spread about or one large building, with no commercial sites as part of the property. That's what I see mostly in Dallas, saw in Houston, and Atlanta. And even the suburban areas of Lancaster, PA. My apartment complex was a 20 minute walk to the nearest anything.
Is there any evidence to suggest that those who live in big houses walk more than those in small apartments?
Hold everything else equal. Both the apartment and the big house are located in the same sprawling suburban neighborhood. Suppose that the big house has only stairs, while the apartment complex has elevators, and the apartment complex is around 5 stories tall, with underground parking easily accessible by elevator. Suppose that the residents of both drive everywhere, and that the lifestyles of both residents are the same.
"big house" is defined as 3000-6,000 square feet (we want to exclude sprawling mansions that the ultra-rich live in)
"small apartment" is defined as anything below 1,000 square feet
Highly unlikely for all characteristics to be the same, unless you're comparing two retired folks maybe. The APT dweller is more likely to live somewhere more dense, so they walk more and drive less. They'll also have inherently different lifestyles. The nature of their living quarters insures that. When I lived in an apartment I walked more. For a handful of reasons, not the least of which was that the apartment was small enough that I'd want to get out of it more often than I do my house (which isn't big but 2X the size of my apartment and has a yard, etc...
Unrealistic scenario, but I would have to say that the odds would definitely be in favor of the bigger house with stairs.
Who drives everywhere they go? In reality, it would depend to a large degree how active the individuals were outside. People living in small spaces may not feel as compelled to stay home, so they could be out and about on their feet more often.
Plenty of people. There's not much for me to go to within a mile or two of where I live, and what there is, I don't really need-- how often do I need to go to the drugstore, pub-restaurant, or post office?. I don't always have the time to walk 3-4 miles to get somewhere since a swift pace for me would be 3.5-4mph. Also, in some areas, for much of the year the weather is so miserable that it sucks getting out and walking in it and arriving to your destination bleary-eyed with runny nose and red face because you slogged a few miles through snow and slush, never mind if you have to carry anything. Nope.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saibot
So true, but the premise of the OP was that the two people have the same lifestyle and person in the small apartment also drives everywhere. So, within these strict limits (small house vs. large house; both people drive everywhere out of the house) there is no option but to agree that the person in the large house walks more. He walks more IN THE HOUSE, because it's bigger and takes longer to get from room to room. It's a silly premise, though. I don't know what the OP is trying to prove.
Right, my question is-- does a few extra feet a day really have that much of an impact on a person's health and fitness? Yes, something is better than nothing, but it's still... only walking a few feet. I don't even burn that many calories running, so I laugh when I see all of these suggestions to walk further from the store's parking lot or climb a couple flights of stairs at work to keep myself in shape.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RJ312
I would say that those in small apartments live in dense, urban areas where walking is more commonplace than the suburban, automobile centric lifestyle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by emm74
No, because you put artificial conditions on it. It's very unlikely that in reality, the small apartment would be located in the same sprawling McMansion-filled suburb. It's far more likely the apartment is in a more urban setting, where people are walking more outside of their home. So sure, if you want to measure it solely as walking within the confines of one's home, a larger home means more steps. But that's a pretty tortured scenario created to support a supposition.
Almost every apartment I've ever had has been in a suburb, not right in a city. In residential neighborhoods right next to houses. You walk out of my complex, there are houses. Are they huge mansions? No. But most residential neighborhoods aren't mansion territory anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ukrkoz
How many of them have you actually seen obese or simply overweight? Part of the reason they got where they are is they know better than NOT to take care of themselves. They take care of themselves both financially and physically.
Do they walk more in those huge mansions - l doubt. It is only human to stick to a certain area of comfort.
Well, no, because they can afford personal trainers and fancy health clubs.
But here we go, assigning the rich more virtues again, they're rich because they're better people, blah blah blah. It's getting tired.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sedimenjerry
There are absolutely apartments in the suburbs. Particularly sun belt. Even elsewhere. I know for a fact New Jersey has a lot of suburban apartments because at one point I was looking for one.
Anyway, one thing to consider for apartments is distance to car. At my last apartment and my current one, I definitely walk farther to get to my car compared to someone in house that can park in a garage or even in their driveway. Inside, I definitely walk a lot less.
I walk straight out the back door of my building and I'm in our parking lot. Distance is about the same as for a lot of houses where you'd walk out of the front of the house, down the sidewalk, and get to the driveway. At a former apartment, you'd walk out the door of the building and if you kept walking, you would literally walk into the back of my car.
Almost every apartment I've ever had has been in a suburb, not right in a city. In residential neighborhoods right next to houses. You walk out of my complex, there are houses. Are they huge mansions? No. But most residential neighborhoods aren't mansion territory anyway.
OP specified that the big houses were 3,000 to 6,000 sq ft. So not a typical residential neighborhood but one filled with very large houses, possibly the type often called McMansions which are not what people generally consider mansions. In my experience, the people putting out the kind of money needed to buy houses of that size are not buying them next to apartment buildings.
OP specified that the big houses were 3,000 to 6,000 sq ft. So not a typical residential neighborhood but one filled with very large houses, possibly the type often called McMansions which are not what people generally consider mansions. In my experience, the people putting out the kind of money needed to buy houses of that size are not buying them next to apartment buildings.
Yessss, did I not say that in my post? But, once more, OP said their comparison was with all other things being equal, and my reply was in response to people who assume all apartments are in deep-urban areas, which they are not. But if you want to compare apartments to mansions because they're not in the same neighborhoods, then you would also have to compare the houses/neighborhoods *most* people live in to mansions.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
