ecosystems and habitats, created a new Human Dimensions Program
(HDP), an initiative to bring human well-being considerations into
conservation practice. The U.S. National Park Service introduced a
major Healthy Parks, Healthy People initiative, specifically geared
toward making parks more attractive to diverse populations for both
the health of the parks (so they’ll be used) and the health of people.
“In the past we tended to encourage visitors to come to the parks and
have fun and learn something and be safe,” Diana Allen, chief of the
service’s Office of Public Health, told me. “Now we say come have
fun and be healthy. That’s huge.”
If we value how important access to parks is for neighborhood
well-being, then we need to measure it. The nonprofit Trust for Public
Land recently compiled a helpful “ParkScore” index, ranking every
major U.S. city by the proportion of residents living within a 10-
minute walk of a park. Minneapolis ranked first (no wonder they’re so
happy there!), with 86.5 percent success. I was surprised to see
Washington, D.C., ranked third, at 80 percent, if you include public
lawns like the National Mall.
I’ll admit, I’m still struggling to make peace with my own
migration to the city, but my mood, along with my habits, are getting
better. Since starting this book, I’ve changed the way I walk around,
seeking out the routes with more trees. I go to parks a lot, and I walk
in them often. I make my kids come with me. We make an effort to
listen to the birds, to look at the fractal patterns in nature, to watch
the creeks flowing. I still shake my fists at the planes, but I also enjoy
getting on them to go somewhere more wild.
This winter, we had a blizzard big enough that it stopped virtually
all mechanized air and street traffic for a couple of days. The deer
took back the streets, bounding through the city in the snow. People
frolicked in the streets too, sledding down boulevards, doing
handstands, stomping around between shoveling sessions. When the
sun came out, my husband and I laced on some old ski boots and