Cooperstown may be the last place associated with "suburban sprawl." Spared from the unrestrained growth that so many communities experienced during the post WWII housing shortage, Cooperstown's beautiful small town streets are as much an attraction to visitors and new residents as The National Baseball Hall of Fame or the NYSHA museums.

The suburbs, (85 per cent of sprawl has occurred in the last 50 years) with housing developments usually deficient in trees and sidewalks, traffic tangles and shopping malls, are an unnatural environment. They cannot exist without nearly complete reliance on the automobile.

As a pedestrian by nature, (i.e. a human being,) and as a recent visitor to two sprawling communities (Columbia, Mo., and Mentor, Ohio) it is painfully evident of what is lost when neighborhoods are built for cars instead of people. Among the quality of life components endangered are:

Fit bodies. Suburban living with its car-as-necessity perception is a leading cause of movement, daily exercise and resulting higher levels of fitness being engineered out of American life. Turning the ignition and pressing the accelerator burns few calories.

Sense of community. Suburbs usually lack central gathering sites - parks, piazzas, coffee shops - any place residents could walk to, share a conversation and actually come to know each other.

Clean air. Automobiles are the leading cause of air pollution, unleaded gasoline and catalytic converters notwithstanding.

Green space. Freeway building demands a lot of space and tree sacrifice. Trees make oxygen, prevent erosion, absorb heat and sound and create windbreaks. If that isn't enough, trees are beautiful. Asphalt and concrete create much heat and facilitate polluted run-off during rainfall.

Safety. The more eyes on the street, the more people know about the people next door, the safer the area. The automobile lends itself to isolation.

Growth for Cooperstown is inevitable. Bassett Healthcare is expanding; the three major museums and Glimmerglass Opera are ever more popular.

Though in no danger of becoming Levittown, N.Y., careful thought for the anticipated development is crucial. Public footpaths and bicycle lanes must be given equal weight as traffic lanes and parking spaces. Maintaining the character of Cooperstown while it grows is our greatest asset. Encouraging the fitness of Cooperstonians by allowing them to exercise their bodies by exercising their choice of physical transport is the right thing to do in a town so proud of its new heart care initiative.

Brenda Berstler is founder of the Walking Example Group (WEGO).