New urbanism saved my life

"I used new urbanism as brain rehab." For a combat veteran dealing with severe post traumatic stress, walkability was a gift of life.

The following is a lightly edited transcript from one of the interviews in my unhealthy infrastructure documentary. Angela has an incredible story about the direct links between walkability and mental health.

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There was a period of time when I was dealing with severe post traumatic stress. I’m a female combat veteran, which is uncommon, and I was incredibly isolated. I wasn't understood by family members or friends as someone trying to reintegrate with society. 

I was disillusioned with the common treatment for mental health. I had been going to doctors for years, doing all the therapy, taking all my meds exactly as prescribed, and it felt like my whole life revolved around being a patient, going to hospitals, getting services, and doing all the treatments. It wasn't my idea of health, so I had to discover what I needed individually to be healthy, ignoring the system and what everyone else was telling me to do. 

I had made the decision to come off meds, which made anxiety even harder to deal with. Then I heard about the concept of new urbanist cities and looked into it. I realized this is exactly what I needed. 

The whole concept of houses built close to the streets so you can talk to your neighbors. And skinnier streets so people drive slower, with sidewalks everywhere and everything is walkable. There's an amphitheater in the center of town for gatherings and events, where you get to know your neighbors.

Living in an apartment building, you don't know anybody. I liked that in a new urbanist development I didn't have to drive and that there were community events I could go to or leave if I wasn't feeling up to it. I think it helped me reintegrate back into society as a female combat veteran. I didn't have kids or partners, and living alone felt different than everybody else. But people cared about me there, and it was just a welcoming place to heal.

There was a plot of land where I could grow vegetables and food for only $50 a month. I could go to the grocery store. My mail room was there. The gym was there. Everything I needed was right there. And not just everything I needed, but everything I needed to recover from my depression. 

Talking to my neighbors was important because I felt so isolated for so long. Talking to people and knowing that they're safe and interested in caring about you and your neighbor next door was key.

During my period of recovery, it was super important to me that I had the ability to walk places. I had to have a place that I could walk that felt safe, that I could walk at night, and that I could wander for miles with my dog and just get a sense of peace, or be out in the sunshine, be in nature, be around trees and squirrels. My anxiety made it so hard to talk to people, but I would make myself say hello to one neighbor and then ask how they were doing the next month. In a walkable neighborhood, that was easy to do.

I used new urbanism as brain rehab. There were always places to walk, neighbors to talk to, and events to attend. Everything was easily accessible. I could go to the gym, pool, sit in the park, and all those things helped me eventually regain my sense of mental and physical health.

I found out the medicine for my mental health was simple: access to healthy food, being a part of a community, and a neighborhood where people care about you and ask how you're doing.

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We’re very close to starting the crowdfunding campaign for the documentary. I can’t wait to film more of the stories and insights about unhealthy infrastructure.