There's been this rumor in the last few weeks, following to the publication of new data by the New York City Department of Health. Several reliable blogs have reported the news, and started commented such data.
Let us start by some of the data explained in some of those blogs: the whole discussion starts from the following statement:
the average life expectancy in 2004 is 78.6 years, a bigger value then the US average, which is 77.9
Then in most website I saw they try to find the reason why such average life expectancy is high, and apparently a reasonable answer seems to be that NEW YORKERS WALK MORE (and FASTER). That's right: there are studies supporting the idea that fast walking and long living go hand in hand.
The discussion about urban health quality, and the way to improve it are really interesting. Especially this idea about walking is interesting (I've started to walk faster since I live here, too!). But let me point out a couple of objections: in 2005 the median income of a New Yorker has been 198k, that is the same as saying that half New Yorkers get more than 198k, and half get less. So my question would be: supposing that rich people live longer, isn't it possible that New Yorkers live longer than the average American simply because they're richer?
Again I'm not pointing out that it is not true that life in New York is healthier, I just want to show that probably there are other explanations that are quite easier (and less fascinating than the walking idea) to explain this fact. Second objection: how about other countries?
In blue is Italy! And Italians walk so slow that they almost walk backward!
Cheers,
Guido.
PS: Some references:
http://nymag.com/news/features/35815/
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