Based on the US's obesity statistics, I don't think lack of access to a gym is Americans' problem.
Spending an hour plus commuting every day is probably more of a problem.
Between getting ready in the morning, getting kids ready, making dinner at night, putting kids to bed, that extra hour or two commuting is what replaces various other activities. And working too much in general.
riding my bike home from work (a bit over 3k with >100m net elevation gain) burns less than a chocolate bar worth of calories.
Hate to break it to you but a huge portion of Europeans also commute for one hour plus every day since they do it by public transport.
Not everyone lives in a quaint Dutch city 5 minutes bike ride away from work.
That little bit of walking to public transit definitely helps with sedentary lifestyle.
The difference is they eat right and spend their weekend either hiking in the mountains or running or mountain biking or going to the gym.
So no, it's not the driving to work that causes the obesity problem, it's how you take care of yourself the rest of time that makes the difference.
Precisely. Tied to this is how we zone everything so dam far apart from another. It's ridiculous to have parking minimums within a 500' radius everywhere when there's no living minimimums. If most were able to bike or walk to work then we'd kill 3 birds with one stone: transportation cost, excercise, and environment all at once.
This is the root cause for people commuting 1 hour plus everyday in the first place. You automatically sort your neighbors by who can afford to commute that far, and as a result, sort the schools your kids to go to.
To live as a community, people have to believe they are a community, and I don't believe this is possible with current levels of income/wealth/future potential gap. And the only solution I can think of is wealth re-distribution.