Activity-oriented design

French women don't get fat, according to a recent best-seller, in part because they walk to the bistro or climb stairs and make physical activity a part of their daily routine. That's harder to do in the United States, where running errands and escorting kids to activities means plunking one's posterior in the driver's seat of a minivan.

Planners, architects, and public health advocates are trying to change all that by making our physical surroundings more inviting for stretching one's legs, and the Boston area is a major incubator for the idea. The group Active Living by Design is pushing a multi-purpose commuter path through Somerville with key amenities like storage lockers and showers to encourage pedaling to work. Anne Lusk, a visiting scientist at Harvard's School of Public Health, has proposed a physical activity rating system for street networks, sidewalks, and buildings, similar to what's used for green or environmentally sensitive buildings. And Arlington is working on more clearly marked crosswalks and walking paths from neighborhoods to schools, part of the national Safe Routes to School program, an attempt to wean students from the ubiquitous school bus and cars. With a better-designed pedestrian network and wayfinding stencils and signs, Arlington hopes a whole generation really will be able to tell their grandkids how they trudged to school in the snow.