My Washington Post Opinion Piece
Our "great retreat" is a topic worthy of more discussion — and policy response
I’m very pleased to have an opinion piece, “America is becoming a nation of homebodies,” in today’s Washington Post. Here is a link to the piece, complete with a very cute cat GIF!
For those who have been reading The New Urban Order Substack for a while, and particularly if you follow me on the Substack Notes app, you know that I’ve been working on a book about the topic of excess time at home. I hope this op-ed starts the conversation that the book will eventually more fully support.
Americans spend 1.5 hours more at home each day than they did just 20 years ago. The stats are worse for people between 15-24 years old.
The core of my argument is this:
we’re voluntarily spending an extra covid lockdown worth of time each year in the house — more than three weeks. This excess home time has received markedly little attention compared to the ills of social media and screen time. Our quiet descent into hermitage demands more discussion, more research and a dedicated policy response.
Why is more time at home a problem? It’s bad for us:
Time in the house is more likely to be time spent alone and sedentary, triggering two of Americans’ biggest mental and physical health problems — social isolation and lack of exercise.
There’s an urbanist argument at the core here:
Living in a place that’s easy to walk around, with plenty to do, is one thing that we know helps.
But as I write:
walkable neighborhoods are becoming more rare: Less than 2 percent of America’s metropolitan areas consist of spaces where people can easily move their bodies and make or maintain social connections. And for those who want these features, they’re often prohibitively expensive. The more affordable exurbs, where getting to walkable amenities is more difficult and time consuming, are some of the fastest growing parts of the country. Sprawling Sun Belt cities and suburbs, often designed for driving from place to place, are booming.
What is at stake here is nothing less than our individual health and that of society:
This “great retreat” for the sake of convenience, cost-saving and a lack of in-person options not only worsens individuals’ health, but poisons our society by dividing Americans into three tiers: those who can afford homes in amenity-filled neighborhoods where easily accessible in-person experiences are just another privilege; those who have to choose between isolating days of digital life and work or grinding drives to access people and places in person; and those without stable housing, whether due to finances or disasters such as the recent Los Angeles fires, who are more excluded than ever from a society that’s happening behind closed doors.
My solutions in the piece are threefold:
“make maintaining our local public institutions an urgent priority” so people have safe, affordable places to go that compete with online activities
“make it easier for the private sector to do its part in reviving our social life” by building housing and providing in-person businesses and activities
“treat ‘getting out’ as a necessary health intervention rather than an optional luxury or a work burden.
I hope you’ll read the whole thing here.
That said, this op-ed really just scratches the surface of this topic — I’ve got a lot more research and solutions to share. And if you’re interested in learning more about the book, reach out.
I’d love to know what you think in the comments below!
Book Club reminder:
A final reminder to sign up for the book club discussion with author Sam Bloch about his book, SHADE, on August 14 at 6pm ET. Learn more about the book and other summer reads here.
And don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter if you enjoy stories like this one!
I can also see that spending more time at home has made people less likely to get involved in their communities — whether that’s joining a board, serving on a committee, or helping out with local projects. When people don’t get out and connect, it’s harder to find volunteers and build the kind of community spirit that brings neighbors together.
We need to claim "pro-social," but we also need to *be* pro-social and that requires people giving up control over their environments.