American cities that closed streets during the pandemic to give residents additional outdoor space for recreation have returned most of them to drivers. Those reopenings are a missed opportunity to improve health if the prognosis from an ongoing experiment in urban redesign in Barcelona, Spain, is any indication. POLITICO’s Helen Collis reports that Barcelona has seen promising results from a decade-old project to close large sections of three neighborhoods to traffic. A survey of people living in the repurposed areas found they reported better rest, increased socialization and less perceived noise and air pollution. Residents also indicated the areas are quieter, more comfortable and safer, making it easier for them to interact with their neighbors. Meanwhile, a study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health published in Environment International found that if Barcelona extends the project to additional areas, as it intends, it would spark major improvements in mental health. The institute expects it would reduce by more than 10 percent visits to mental health specialists and antidepressant use. Those findings add to growing scientific evidence that access to nature helps prevent mental health disorders. Noise pollution from traffic has been linked to stress, sleeplessness, anxiety and depression, while poor air quality is linked to mental health impacts, such as dementia and strokes. Back in America: Stephan Schmidt, an associate professor at Cornell University’s City and Regional Planning Department, researched the Covid-era street closures and found 35 states took part. But nearly all the closures — 94 percent — lasted less than six months. There were some significant exceptions: — San Francisco voters last fall decided to keep the portion of JFK Drive that runs through Golden Gate Park car-free. — Seattle continues to maintain some of the “Healthy Streets” it designated, including a picturesque stretch of Alki Ave. facing Elliott Bay. — The National Park Service has agreed to keep Beach Drive in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park — once a major commuting thoroughfare — closed to through traffic after residents protested a plan to reopen it.
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