Living in a walkable city

To live in a city where you can walk, cycle or take public transport safely and effectively; is this a good thing? Or is it better to live in the suburbs where you are close to nature but then have a long commute in a car?

How do we solve the problem of the suburbs? Urbanist Jeff Speck shows how we can free ourselves from dependence on the car -- which he calls "a gas-belching, time-wasting, life-threatening prosthetic device" -- by making our cities more walkable and more pleasant for more people.

Watch the Ted Talk at:

http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_speck_the_walkable_city.html

and then check out how Barcelona fares in the quality of life stakes, you might be surprised what you find out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercer_Quality_of_Living_Survey