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If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity

streets.mn

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Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity

#21

Post by mikenew »

paulcole wrote: post #4

The thing is we (as an American society) really don’t want a shift to walking. We like the idea of walking more but won’t actually do it. Instead we’ll make up a million excuses about why we just can’t walk. I say this as someone who at 40 years old has never learned to drive and who has walked/bicycled/taken the bus virtually everywhere I’ve needed to go. And I’ve lived in very rural and very suburban areas, as well…

This has not been my experience. I'm lucky to live in a very walkable part of a very walkable city, and almost every time someone comes to visit I find they've disappeared within 24 hours to "explore the area".

These are people who virtually never walk anywhere unless they have to, but you put them in the right environment and they almost can't help it.

Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity

#22

Post by snovymgodym »

bluGill wrote: post #14
psunavy03 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I say this as someone who at 40 years old has never learned to drive and who has walked/bicycled/taken the bus virtually everywhere I’ve needed to go. I say this with no mockery or disrespect, just description . . . you are not normal. I mean in a statistical sense. Not only are you part of (maybe the last) generation who salivated over the thought of getting a driver's license at 16 and getting away from Mom and D…

Most people in the US live in an urban area, where urban solutions work. Only a small minority live in a rural area, though many living in suburbs like to pretend they are in a rural area.

I agree that the "US is a rural country" thing isn't true, but the way most US cities are built make walking either very inconvenient or outright dangerous.

Posting this channel in this sort of thread is basically a meme, but this take on the topic is pretty good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORzNZUeUHAM

Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity

#24

Post by lelanthran »

paulcole wrote: post #4

The thing is we (as an American society) really don’t want a shift to walking. We like the idea of walking more but won’t actually do it. Instead we’ll make up a million excuses about why we just can’t walk. I say this as someone who at 40 years old has never learned to drive and who has walked/bicycled/taken the bus virtually everywhere I’ve needed to go. And I’ve lived in very rural and very suburban areas, as well…

How do you get toddlers to daycare, preteens to soccer practice, etc.

Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity

#25

Post by cheschire »

whispersnow wrote: post #12

Agree and disagree with the article. Was an intern at a local governance, Americans with disabilities act (ADA) office for a year. It was a city with history, and not a very good city planning at the start. Yes, need to compliance, reality is, it is very hard. Like you built everything on top of a single MySQL and then facing the scalability challenge so you will need to re-shard every other 6 months - and worse, as…

It sounds like you actually don't disagree with the article at all.

Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity

#26

Post by hairofadog »

> If you were driving past and saw a friend walking or rolling there, what would your first thought be:

>>“Oh, no, Henry’s car must have broken down! I better offer him a ride.”

>>“Oh, looks like Henry’s out for a walk! I should text him later.”

To me, this is a great way of framing it. I sometimes see people walking along a stretch of road and I feel for them because I know that no human would be waking along that stretch unless their life was in a bad place.

Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity

#27

Post by myshpa »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #23

This article kind of skips out on safety. Many of the urban areas that have the density for walking, often have issues of homelessness and open drug use that makes people feel unsafe walking, especially with children.

That kind of points to other systemic problems of your society.

Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity

#28

Post by tensor »

zmgsabst wrote: post #17
gruez wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>but give them a dignified existence and they will immediately care about the world they live in. What does "a dignified existence" mean as it relates to climate change?

Stop telling them they need to eat bugs, not take vacations, and live a worse life. People who eat exotic steaks, fly private jets, and own outrageous fortunes forcing people into that derivation will always come across as abusive — no matter what social cause you dress it up in. Create a world where people are prosperous and have lots of children… and they’ll care about the future.

People who have lots of children, and people who are prosperous, currently do not care about the future. In fact, it seems the wealthier people are the LESS they care about the future for some reason.

If you ask me, people need to be more educated, and especially when it comes to science and misinformation. Wealth won't make people better people, which isn't to say that inequality isn't a problem, it is, but fixing it won't solve the climate problem. That comes purely from ignorance and selfishness.

Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity

#29

Post by arrowsmith »

mikenew wrote: post #21
paulcole wrote: post #4

The thing is we (as an American society) really don’t want a shift to walking. We like the idea of walking more but won’t actually do it. Instead we’ll make up a million excuses about why we just can’t walk. I say this as someone who at 40 years old has never learned to drive and who has walked/bicycled/taken the bus virtually everywhere I’ve needed to go. And I’ve lived in very rural and very suburban areas, as well…

This has not been my experience. I'm lucky to live in a very walkable part of a very walkable city, and almost every time someone comes to visit I find they've disappeared within 24 hours to "explore the area". These are people who virtually never walk anywhere unless they have to, but you put them in the right environment and they almost can't help it.

When I'm in a new city I love to go for an aimless walk with no destination in mind just to get lost, get a feel for the place and see what I discover.

Then I visited the US and quickly realised that this is a terrible idea in pretty much any American city.

Re: If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity

#30

Post by snovymgodym »

skrebbel wrote: post #13
paulcole wrote: post #4

The thing is we (as an American society) really don’t want a shift to walking. We like the idea of walking more but won’t actually do it. Instead we’ll make up a million excuses about why we just can’t walk. I say this as someone who at 40 years old has never learned to drive and who has walked/bicycled/taken the bus virtually everywhere I’ve needed to go. And I’ve lived in very rural and very suburban areas, as well…

Can you explain this to me? For example, my local supermarket is a 8 minute walk from my house. Driving there would take about 5 minutes, due to one way streets etc, so including the hassle of parking etc it takes about as long. Driving there seems positively insane to me, except if I’m shopping for a party or something and need to fill the trunk. Are you saying that Americans would choose the car here? Or that in Am…

It's highly situational, but speaking broadly the US usually it's a "5 minute drive vs a 25 minute walk" situation.

But even if you live 5-10 minutes from the supermarket many people will still drive because everything is designed around people driving. For example, it's very common to lack sidewalks and even when there are sidewalks, protected crossings can be sparse.

So a 10 minute walk to the store can involve you having to walk in the street or in the mud and grass, cutting across the street where there's no crossing signal, and having to walk through a busy parking lot to actually get to the building.

And even once you're in the store things are designed around cars. The size of packaging and the quantities that people normally buy in are based on the idea that Americans take their car to the grocery store once a week and fill their trunk space with groceries.

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