A few factoids to enliven the conversation at your fun-filled holiday weekend activities

With all of us making plans to ride bikes, take walks, and dine outside at a favorite restaurant’s sidewalk seating on this holiday weekend, I thought I’d cite a few healthy living factoids that you can toss around at your Memorial Day BBQ:

• Twenty-five percent of Americans say that traffic makes it unsafe to walk in their neighborhoods

• Nearly four in ten people –38 percent — say that their communities lack outdoor places for recreation

• Fifty-four percent say shopping and entertainment are not within walking distance

• Forty-eight percent say bike lanes are insufficient to make biking a practical mode of transportation

• Half of Americans want to live in pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, including sidewalks and crosswalks

• One-fifth of Americans view walkability as a top priority. Fifty-two percent would like to live in a place where they do not need to use a car very often; this includes 63 percent of Millennials

• Four percent of Americans consider convenient public transportation to be a low priority, while 32 percent consider it a high priority

• Environmental quality is rated as a top priority or high priority by 87 percent of Americans.

• Green space, including parks, is ranked as the top or high priority by more than 50 percent of Americans

• About 50 percent rate proximity to family and friends and walkable neighborhoods as top or high priorities.

Thanks to America in 2015, released by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) for these statistics.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!