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The Crisis in American Walking

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Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#21

Post by daniel_solano »

Duff wrote: post #6
ojbyrne wrote: post #2

Trying not to start a controversy or hijack this to an unrelated news story - but my first thought when the whole Trayvon Martin thing happened - the thing that alerts Neighborhood Watch types in bedroom communities isn't "walking while black," but just plain old "walking." It's suspicious.

Great point. The whole notion of the "gated community" is patently offensive and only possible by virtue of the automobile. Walk through an old city. Even in the victorian era, where families were packed in single rooms with no running water, they were just a 5-10 minute walk from stately townhouses of the well-to-do. Now, we feel the need to separate ourselves with berms and fences.

Well, the ‘gated community’ as such may exist by virtue of the automobile, but the overall concept is much older and can apply even in high-density urban environments. What about a luxury apartment building that hires a doorman? It is the same thing in spirit as the gated community.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#24

Post by ojbyrne »

_delirium wrote: post #15
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keep in mind that the number of U.S. cities where you would want to live within a couple of miles of downtown can be counted on with 1 hand.

I can think of quite a few... San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, New York, Boston, Dallas, Austin, Houston. Even Los Angeles and Atlanta have nice "new downtown" areas, though the traditional downtowns are sketchy (Wilshire and Midtown, respectively).

Baltimore's downtown is surprisingly livable and walkable.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#25

Post by _delirium »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #17
_delirium wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can think of quite a few... San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, New York, Boston, Dallas, Austin, Houston. Even Los Angeles and Atlanta have nice "new downtown" areas, though the traditional downtowns are sketchy (Wilshire and Midtown, respectively).

Lots of cities have nice areas around downtown, but few have nice areas around downtown where you can do everything you need (walk to work, walk to the grocery, etc). They do exist, obviously, and some people are more tolerant about walking through a few bad blocks on the way to work than others, but it is my observation that most U.S. cities don't do a good job of making downtown a desirable place to live. Many U.S.…

That's the traditional "business district" style downtown, yeah, but afaict there's been a shift away from that in the past 15-20 years, and now many people commute to downtown in the evenings, because that's where all the restaurants/bars/clubs/theaters are. That's definitely the case in the Bay Area, where SF is much more lively after 5pm than most of the Valley is (Santa Clara is basically dead once office workers go home). Was also the case in Midtown Atlanta when I lived there a few years ago; big influx from the suburbs in the evenings, esp on weekends.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#26

Post by misterbwong »

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #4

I live close to the downtown core of my city and my daily commute is a 6 km (3.7 mile) round trip by foot. People seem to think this is exotic if not downright subversive, whereas they think nothing about sitting in a car for an hour a day and stopping off at the gym for a workout. Note that I'm not in particularly good shape and a walk of this magnitude is not at all difficult. I arrive at work every day refreshed,…

While I agree that most people walking would be generally better than not, I don't quite follow your reasoning.

According to this paper [1], mean comfortable walking speed for a male in his twenties is 253.3 cm/s (~5.67 mph). Assuming you are male and in your twenties, this means it takes you ~39 mins to work each way, not including stopping at intersections, etc. Contrast this to ~15 mins each way in a car.

This means the cost/benefit would go something like this:

Walking:

(+) 78 mins/day commuting + exercise

(+) Mood heightened

(-) Lesser exercise (walking vs 1 hr at the gym where, presumably, you'd do more than walk)

Driving/Gym:

(-) 90 mins/day communting + exercise

(-) Mood not heightened

(+) Better exercise

(+) More flexibility (want to go more than a couple miles for lunch? Sorry.)

My guess is that most people choose option 2 for the flexibility alone. This allows them to do their exercise when they want to. Whether or not they will is another story.

[1] http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/1/15.full.pdf

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#27

Post by Duff »

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #14
Duff wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I started doing the same thing last year, at least when the weather is pleasant. It's an amazingly liberating experience. It makes you look forward to spring. I live in a place that typically has bad winters, so the prospect of breaking my neck on ice is not very appealing!

I live in southern Ontario and commute on foot year-round. There's no weather that appropriate outerwear can't handle.

Absolutely true -- it's more of a risk mitigation thing for me.

I had a ruptured disk and a spinal fusion a few years ago that went really well.... and I'm a little paranoid about keeping it that way!

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#28

Post by cowpewter »

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #4

I live close to the downtown core of my city and my daily commute is a 6 km (3.7 mile) round trip by foot. People seem to think this is exotic if not downright subversive, whereas they think nothing about sitting in a car for an hour a day and stopping off at the gym for a workout. Note that I'm not in particularly good shape and a walk of this magnitude is not at all difficult. I arrive at work every day refreshed,…

I live close (Sometimes I ride my bike, which feels safer, if for no other reason than those two blocks go by awfully fast and an assailant on foot could not easily catch up to me, but biking feels like a lot more work than walking. I have to gear up, and carry my bike down the stairs from my apartment, and bike three stories up the parking garage for our office once I get there (the building manager hates bicycles, and so you cannot take them up the stairs/elevator). I also feel like one of these days I'm going to be hit and killed in that garage. I feel that way even in my car (well, at least in my car I probably wouldn't die. On my bike? Maybe). The visibility around the corners is terrible and people seem to drive through that garage like maniacs.

Unfortunately, I have night owl tendencies and even if I didn't, I work for a startup and often need to work late nights, so I can't just arrange my schedule to know I can walk home before it's dark.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#29

Post by RyanMcGreal »

Duff wrote: post #27
RyanMcGreal wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in southern Ontario and commute on foot year-round. There's no weather that appropriate outerwear can't handle.

Absolutely true -- it's more of a risk mitigation thing for me. I had a ruptured disk and a spinal fusion a few years ago that went really well.... and I'm a little paranoid about keeping it that way!

There are some pretty significant risks associated with driving as well, including both the risk of injury/death in a collision and the sheer sedentary seat time.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#30

Post by cncool »

simonsarris wrote: post #11

This is actually one of the biggest reasons why I do not want to move. I love Nashua, New Hampshire because of how lovely it is to walk from the north end of town. I walk to work every day in seven minutes[1]. The city maintains a large forested park that is a 5 minute walk from main street. Every single weekend I walk to one of the fine cafes that exist on or around main street for breakfast. On workdays at lunch I…

"Simply taking walks I can peruse* downtown"

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

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