Call (888) 786-7243According to data recently released by the Census Bureau, Colorado has both fewer vehicles per capita and fewer obese adults than any other state in the nation (the data was reported in today’s Denver Post). Is that a coincidence? I doubt it! Coloradans go without vehicles in part because we prefer to use some form of self-propulsion — usually either walking or biking — when we decide to go someplace.
If you live close enough to your workplace, grocery store, and/or local school to walk or bike there, give it a try. You’ll be lowering your carbon footprint, improving your physical fitness, and reducing traffic congestion — all in one fell swoop. Yes, there are occasions when you really need a car, like when you are driving your teenager to college in the fall, along with all the stuff he or she plans to move into a dorm room; when you need to pick someone up at the airport; or when you have cleaned the clutter out of your home and need to drive a large load of newspapers and e-waste to the appropriate recycling sites. For those occasions, it’s good to have a car on hand, but you can keep it parked in the garage, or in a secure self storage unit, the rest of the time. (The money you save on gas might very well defray much of the cost of storage.)
If enough Coloradans put their automobiles on ice, maybe Colorado will move into another category — the state whose residents have the lowest likelihood of developing heart disease. Right now Colorado is the first runner up in that category — let’s go for the gold, Denver!