
Nearly half of Americans didn’t go outside for recreation in 2018 - ryan_j_naughton
https://coloradosun.com/2020/01/29/fewer-americans-participate-in-outdoor-recreation/
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slg
It seems like this survey is about "outdoors activities" and not just
activities that take place outside. For example, traditional sports like
basketball, football, baseball, and soccer aren't listed in the outdoors
section even if they take place outside. The survey is instead only counting
activities like fishing, hunting, hiking, etc as outside activities. That will
wildly skew the results.

EDIT: Here is the fine print of the survey:

>In this report, outdoor activities include adventure racing, backpacking,
bicycling (BMX), bicycling (mountain/non-paved surface), bicycling (road/paved
surface), birdwatching (more than 1/4 mile from home/vehicle),
boardsailing/windsurfing, camping (backyard or car, within 1/4 mile of
vehicle/home), camping (recreational vehicle), canoeing, climbing
(sport/indoor/boulder), climbing (traditional/ice/ mountaineering), fishing
(fly), fishing (freshwater/other), fishing (saltwater), hiking, hunting
(rifle), hunting (shotgun), hunting (handgun), hunting (bow), kayak fishing,
kayaking (recreational), kayaking (sea/touring), kayaking (white water),
rafting, running/jogging, sailing, scuba diving, skateboarding, skiing
(alpine/downhill), skiing (cross-country), snorkeling, snowboarding,
snowshoeing, stand up paddling, surfing, telemarking (downhill), trail
running, triathlon (non-traditional/off road), triathlon (traditional/road),
wakeboarding, wildlife viewing (more than 1/4 mile from home/vehicle).

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NegativeLatency
Indoor climbing is an outdoor sport?!

~~~
JauntyHatAngle
Yes, because the study was for outdoor rec companies, so harnesses and
climbing gear is relevant even if the sport is done inside. Lead or bouldering
is done both inside and outside and very similar gear is used.

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rubyn00bie
I'd like to say the cost of a lot of outdoor recreation is really, really,
high. People wanna say just "go outside, it's free." But... it's really not
unless you live in a very rural area where you have your own land to wander or
extremely close to a publicly owned land.

A lot of outdoor activities require investment to participate in. It's easy to
laugh at the bicyclists wearing spandex until you try to ride a hundred miles
and chafe your balls into a pair of blisters. Let alone a bicycle
comfortable/safe enough to ride long distances without injuring you. Even just
walking can be really damaging without proper shoes, or with bad ones because
they're all you have.

For a lot of people, simply trying out an activity might cost a hundred or two
hundred dollars once everything is done, and that's waaaaaay too high for most
people. I think if there were public gear closets like the one referenced in
the article or a bigger push towards communal access/usage of gear, the number
would go up somewhat.

~~~
ryan_j_naughton
Hiking is very cheap for virtually all of Los Angeles, the second largest city
in America.

This is because: \- 88% of households have a car, enabling them to get to a
hike [1] \- the average vehicles per household is 1.6 [1], thus the average
across 2 households is 3 cars. Considering most people to hiking with friends,
this greatly increases the chance a vehicle is available regularly. \- there
are many hikes available in state parks in the Santa Monica mountains within
15 miles of the majority of the population \- parking is very cheap.

I agree that rock climbing or kite surfing are way more expensive, but there
is little substitute for a good hike.

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JohnFen
Can that be true?? My mind is totally blown. There must be rather huge
regional variations in this, though. In my part of the nation, the vast
majority of people engage in outdoor recreation at least once per year -- and
most much more often.

~~~
Kalium
Depending on where you are and what infrastructure you have access to, going
"outside for recreation" can be an ordeal.

For example, fishing and most forms of camping are relatively inaccessible to
me. Public transit tends not to run to such places.

~~~
wutbrodo
I don't think the term is defined as narrowly as going into the wilderness.
For example, they say:

> only 18% of Americans played outside at least once a week

I doubt one in five Americans are driving out to national parks once a week,
so "outdoor recreation" probably includes things like soccer in a city park or
going for a bike ride.

That being said, I wish the article was less vague with its use of terms like
"play outside" and "outdoor recreation" so we didn't have to read tea leaves
to deduce the reality.

~~~
Kalium
I looked at the paper, I couldn't readily spot what they considered "outdoor
recreation". Camping, fishing, hiking, biking, and jogging/running were things
they mentioned repeatedly though.

I have no idea if they included, say, reading in a park.

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PostOnce
The great outdoors is now a 4 foot strip of grass between your outer wall and
the sidewalk or your neighbor's house, and the suburbs go on forever. The
outdoors isn't as accessible as it seems for a lot of people.

Doesn't apply in my area, but it's easy for me to understand.

~~~
Barrin92
>The outdoors isn't as accessible

should be noted that this foundation (which seems to have quite a big interest
in promoting the 'outdoors industry') seems to define the term as "uninhabited
nature" going by their listed activities.

Plenty of people are still socially active outside. I'm not sure why running
in the city park, taking long walks or playing basketball on the court is
supposed to be less valuable than hiking.

~~~
RivieraKid
This is probably subjective but for me, walking or running in nature is a
substantially better experience than doing that in a city park.

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tapatio
My foreign wife gained 30 pounds after moving to the USA. She attributes it to
reduced walking and an increase in food consumption.

:(

~~~
sgc
Same thing here. I gained weight moving back as well, due to lack of time and
motivation for exercise since I am working without a real break, no walking
for anything, and ubiquitous availability of comfort food coupled with high
stress due to high cost of living and that work schedule noted above.

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ErikAugust
For those confused or angered by the definition of "outdoor activities" the
article is about the "outdoor recreation" industry. Think REI, Patagonia, or
Cabela's. So yeah, hiking will count but a stroll through your neighborhood
won't. Climbing would, but soccer is out.

I would be very interested to see the numbers for a more inclusive definition
myself, though still saddened people aren't hiking, camping, and generally
spending time in nature a bit more.

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Joof
Ironically, the outdoors areas are more crowded than ever.

Just moved from Denver to Austin and I totally understand why... It sucks
outside in most places.

~~~
GuiA
Yeah, it’s gotten pretty bad in the Bay Area too. Lack of basic hiking
courtesy (saying hello when you pass people, giving right of way to people
going uphill on narrow slopes, walking single file when you’re in a group,
etc) would be frustrating enough on its own, but it’s way beyond that -
leaving trash, playing music on Bluetooth speakers, people mountain biking for
what seems to be the first time and having no clue how to behave on their
bike, etc.

Any trail that can be found with a basic google search on the weekend is just
not worth it.

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ogre_codes
With so many people living in big cities, this doesn't surprise me. If you
live in a big metro area, getting out of the city limits might take an hour or
more and requires having a car. Outdoor recreation areas inside city limits or
near city limits are already over-crowded.

That alone makes proper outdoor activities like mountain biking, rock
climbing, or hiking difficult to do. The article shows pictures from Grand
Junction and other parts of Colorado where outdoor recreation is generally
easy and accessible, but a lot of cities make it far more difficult to venture
out and in big parts of the country outdoor recreation just sucks unless you
travel. I lived in Central California for years and moved away because hot
summers, dry, boring terrain, and distance to decent trails made riding my
bike or hiking extremely time consuming (or just lame).

If cities want people outdoors (and they should), they need big walkable
greenbelts, and big parks with recreation options in or very near city limits.
Many cities have really terrible options for getting out.

~~~
drdeadringer
I think I agree.

I have a list of "outdoor" places I want to visit for various reasons, ranging
from a specific highway rest stop mentioned in a fictional podcast episode to
national parks. All of these require a vehicle.

If I were to start visiting tomorrow, I would need to rent a vehicle.

Do I live in an urban setting? Yes. Do I still go outside for recreation? Yes.
I am fortunate enough to walk, I am fortunate to have parks and bike trails
within walking distance to my living place and I do those things, and like
this.

Does any of this count as the posted article's "outdoor recreation"? Good
question.

For me, yes. I get outside. I want to avoid cabin fever. I want fresh air more
than two open windows giving a cross-breeze [which is also great].

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throwawayjava
That headline is wrong. Nearly half of Americans didn't participate in _a list
of 42 outdoor recreation activities that this particular trade group profits
from_ , which is quite different from "didn't go outside for recreation".

"Outdoor recreation" was defined as: adventure racing, backpacking, bicycling
(BMX), bicycling (mountain/non-paved surface), bicycling (road/paved surface),
birdwatching, boardsailing/windsurfing, car or backyard camping, RV camping,
canoeing, climbing (sport/indoor/boulder), climbing
(traditional/ice/mountaineering), fly fishing, freshwater fishing, saltwater
fishing, hiking, hunting (rifle), hunting (shotgun), hunting (handgun),
hunting (bow), kayak fishing, kayaking (recreational), kayaking (sea/touring),
kayaking (white water), rafting, running/ jogging, sailing, scuba diving,
skateboarding, skiing (alpine/downhill), skiing (cross-country), skiing
(freestyle), snorkeling, snowboarding, snowshoeing, stand up paddling,
surfing, telemarking (downhill), trail running, triathlon (non-traditional/
off road), triathlon (traditional/road), wakeboarding and wildlife viewing.

That's a pretty decent list, but it excludes what are probably by far the two
most common forms of recreation that occur outdoors: walking in local parks
and playing team sports outside (organized or pickup). But for some reason
does include __indoor__ climbing!? Probably because this is a trade group
comprised of companies that make an enormous amount of money from gym climbing
but make exactly $0.00 when kids spend all summer playing in the community
park ;-)

Direct link to report: [https://outdoorindustry.org/resource/2019-outdoor-
participat...](https://outdoorindustry.org/resource/2019-outdoor-
participation-report/)

~~~
cryptoz
What a weird list. I haven't done a single item of that list _in years_ , but
I would say I go outside for recreation about 100-200 times per year. Walking
around the neighborhood? Kicking a soccer ball around in the backyard?
Shooting hoops with a hoop attachment to a garage? None of that counts? What a
ridiculous headline!

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asciimov
But it's scary out there! /s

Seriously though, I wish I could be outside more often, but here in South
Texas 9 months of the year it feels like death outside (heat, allergies, what-
have-you) and the other 3 months it is typically too dark when I get home from
work.

I've always thought boating might be a cool thing to do/learn, but I've never
lived close enough to water to try it.

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jchrisa
Makes me feel pretty lucky that I spend an hour a day rain or shine taking the
kids to school on my cargo ebike. We all get outside time and I think there
are fewer fits from the when riding in the bike’s front box. I have a dual-
battery Packster 80 with a 28mph motor on it. Gets across town faster than
driving at rush hour and carries two adult passengers as long as they are fit
enough to climb in and out.

If I didn’t have so much to carry I’d ride a Load, they have full suspension,
mine only has front.

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truebosko
This is .. absurd. I find it hard to believe.

We live in an urban centre (Somerville, near Boston) and go outside not just
every weekend, but almost daily with our three year old.

In the evenings we do neighbourhood walks. In the winter it's even more fun
with a flashlight

On weekends we're out of the house by 10am on average. We are minutes away
from reservation areas and so much green space

It's stupidly easy to be surrounded by trees and nature, even in the city. We
don't even need a car to do it (but we do use one at times!)

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AtomicOrbital
Long walls are great for thinking ... visual stimulation coupled with the
fresh air makes for a very rewarding investment of time ... even a short walk
every few hours is a game changer when thinking about some mental challenge
... it helps but there is no need to go out of your way to do this walking in
any location ... vary your path ... there is no excuse to not walk often ...
breaking a sweat several times a week is as easy as a good long hard walk

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willart4food
...and increased obesity rates: causation or correlation?

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unixpickle
Maybe we are just preparing for the point when climate change makes going
outside difficult and largely unsafe...

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briandear
Really? How would even a 3 degree change make going outside unsafe or
difficult?

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rusabd
We had a rare occurrence of snow in our small town. Some kids went outside to
play and a neighbor called on them to the police. Lesson learned - just stay
in the freaking house all day.

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inyorgroove
Was there real consequence for this though? Getting the cops called can be
essentially a no-op sometimes.

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rubyn00bie
For a lot of folks it's pretty terrifying to have the cops show up at all;
especially, for something so benign as kids playing in the snow. Many people
have been killed by police for doing less.

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inyorgroove
I know these encounters can be detrimental. I was careful with my wording.
Notice I said sometimes.

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rubyn00bie
Not be an ass, but "sometimes" for you is "always" for others. I think the
chance of a bad outcome, for those with always, greatly outweighs your
unlikely-hood of one...

