I just read an article about commuting in an old New Yorker. It quotes political scientist Robert Putnam (author of "Bowling Alone") as describing the place you sleep, the place you work, and the place you shop as the three points of a triangle. In a small European village, it would take only a few minutes to walk each side of that triangle. In many American cities, you could spend an hour or two driving each side. Putnam's research shows that there is a correlation between happiness and triangle size: "the smaller the triangle, the happier the human, as long as there is social interaction to be had."
My triangle has a perimeter of roughly five miles. I can walk the longest side in 45 minutes or bike it in 10.
How big is your triangle?
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3 comments:
Ha... I keep not liking my comment and deleting it. Here is what I meant to say:
It's funny because mine is less than a mile here, and it was around 3 I would guess in VT. I am a lot happier here mainly because the "where I work" is a lot better. If that had been better in VT I would have never left. I think happiness depends on who and what is in the village too. Very interesting!
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