This is from the San Jose Mercury News.  It does not necessarily represent the views of The Cascade Agenda or the Cascade Land Conservancy.  At times, we present views we think will be of interest to supporters of The Agenda.

by Dan Burden

Over the 12 years I've spent advocating for walkable communities in about 2,500 towns and cities throughout the world - including 20 or so in the Bay Area - I've found a disparity in the level of happiness that appears to have nothing to do with levels of income.

In communities around San Jose, residents have an enviable standard of living in many respects, yet many don't seem as happy as one would expect in light of their income and the creative environment of Silicon Valley. What could be the cause? And more important, what are possible solutions?

A recent international study on happiness by researchers at Leicester University in England ranked the United States as only the 23rd happiest place in the world. Denmark is the happiest, according to the research.

It's probably no coincidence that more than 20 years ago, Denmark set a vision to become one of the best places to walk anywhere. It took a long time to get there, but the Danes apparently are very happy with their results.

Silicon Valley can follow this example. It can leverage its standard of living to increase its walkability and improve its quality of life.

One measure of quality of life is the level of access we have to the things we value most - jobs, safe streets, affordable transportation and housing, and quality health care, schools and civic spaces such as parks and other gathering places.

The ability to walk to many of these places from our homes or places of employment generally raises that quality-of-life index. When researchers look for places where people are happiest, it's often in communities where they can live near where they work, walk their children to school and shop at stores within walking or biking distance.

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