One of the funniest things about living in an urban, “concrete jungle” like Manhattan vs. a stereotypically green, picturesque suburb setting is that in Manhattan, you can pretty much walk everywhere you’d like, and it’s super easy. In suburbs regardless of where in the world you are, you are more likely to get in your car to travel a distance that may even just be a couple of blocks. Because of this, you probably will do more steps and get more “natural” and incidental exercise by living in an urban vs. suburban area. Most of Manhattan is set up like a grid, so it’s pretty easy to navigate. And you’re unlikely to own a car if you live in Manhattan, so you’re reliant on your feet, the subway/bus system, or the occasional ride-share.

I was thinking about this tonight when I met up with a friend for dinner in the East Village. After we had dinner, we walked to a nearby spot for some bubble tea, then decided, what the heck, we might as well just walk home. He lives in Midtown West, and I live a bit further north, and since my shoes were comfortable enough and I was in no rush to get home, I figured it would be good additional exercise and air. In total, that was a distance walked of about 3.6 miles.

It’s also something I’ve thought about while lightly browsing potential baby strollers. Everyone’s use case is a little different, but there’s no doubt that with our lifestyle, we’re going to be on city streets and sidewalks a LOT. We also want the stroller to be easy to break down to set up in a ride-share/rental car, and similarly, the lowest possible hassle getting on and off a plane. It will be interesting to see what we end up moving forward with.