> And the city is poorer and darker than the national average by a
> significant margin - yet we live longer. That shouldn't be. Why? And
> the national mythology, to quote Thomas Jefferson, is that "large
> cities are pestilential." Pollution and stress are supposed to kill
> us. They don't. Why?
This reflect my own preoccupations, but could it have something to do with diet and exercise?
I'm pretty sure that it's been measured that city dwellers get a lot more walking in than suburbanites, and that shouldn't be too hard to believe. Prewar development tends to not just allow living without a car, it requires much more walking even when you do use a car. Compare to the practice I've seen of stopping at one end of a strip mall, then driving 100 ft. and parking to go to another store. Street parking rarely allows that.
Regarding diet, the wealthy end doesn't need much explanation. But 1st generation immigrants are supposed to eat better too. I think it's been observed that Mexicans tend to get more overweight the longer they've been in the US. I'd guess that native born blacks don't fit that as well, though.
-- Andy