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The Crisis in American Walking

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Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#41

Post by civilian »

cowpewter wrote: post #28
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,…

That sucks :( My former office (in Pioneer Square, Seattle) has a pretty large homeless & drug-dealing population, but I rarely don't feel safe. Even when I leave work at 1am on a friday night, I just dodge a few intersections that are especially bad and I get home safe. But I'm also a guy-- I know that some of my female coworkers didn't like it, to the extent that we'd sometimes walk them to the parking garage.

Have you considered getting mace?

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#42

Post by natesm »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #9
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,…

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.

That's also a list of US cities I'd want to live in at all, though.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#43

Post by excuse-me »

daniel_solano wrote: post #21
Duff wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The concept of the gated community in a city is much older in Europe, and as in modern America, it also contained a section of society that ordinary people despised and didn't want to mix with.

After one country took this attitude to unfortunate extremes a couple of generations ago - we have tried to all get along a bit better.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#44

Post by excuse-me »

jgw wrote: post #38

Sort of related - a funny observation that might amuse Americans about us wacky Canucks: An awful lot of Canadians, myself included, avoid drive-through ATMs, and instead park and walk into the bank. And sometimes, when the bank's busy, we walk up to the the drive-through ATM. I did this once when I was a co-op student in Starkville, MS, and got some really, really strange looks.

It's generally quicker to park and walk in than use the drive-though. (Except at Timmy's where nothing is quicker)

At In-and-out burger (the one reason good to live in Ca) there is generally a walk-up window by the drive-through so you can park and beat the queue.

If you feel this is un-america you could always leave the engine running while you wait.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#45

Post by Retric »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #9
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,…

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 don't live in Downtown DC, but by apartment complex is in a great area for walking. http://www.walkscore.com/apartments/details/801-15th-street-...

Within one block of my house is a park, a subway stop, a mid sized mall, a variety of restaurants etc. I find it's easier to walk to most places in the area than get in my car and then look for parking. Honestly, most of the high density parts of Arlington Virginia are vary walkable because it's both high density and mixed use.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#46

Post by personlurking »

ojbyrne wrote: post #24
_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).

Baltimore's downtown is surprisingly livable and walkable.

Might as well throw in Berkeley. I lived next door to CAL and walked every day to cafes, restaurants, bars, supermarkets, parks, etc.

New Orleans fits this as well, as I also lived in the Tremé. I biked and walked everywhere. It was great

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#47

Post by aqme28 »

hammock wrote: post #18
Duff wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The upper classes separating themselves from everyone else isn't a modern invention...what do you think castles are?

This is more the middle classes separating themselves from a perceived (yet not necessarily existent) other.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#48

Post by simmons »

enjo wrote: post #32
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…

It's a reason that I love living in Denver, Colorado. I live (affordably) about two miles from Downtown. There is a huge network of urban walking trails just a few short blocks form my house. I either bike or walk (or both thanks to the bike share) to work almost every day (or take public transit when it's really cold). Since Denver is a very compact city at the core, I can get anywhere in the central city on foot. A…

I'll second that -- I loved living in Downtown Denver, and still visit as much as I can. Funny, when I was reading about the seven-minute commute in Nashua, I thought "that sounds like the commute I had in Downtown Denver," then saw your comment.

I'm now living 6 miles out in Olde Town Arvada. It's actually a neat walkable area with coffee shops, brewpubs, etc., although there are no major tech employers within walking distance. (I work from home.)

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#50

Post by mixmastamyk »

I live and telecommute in Los Angeles and belive it or not live in a walkable neighborhood. It's near the metro station which I use if I need to go somewhere en route, there are fantastic restaurants in walking distance, and the weather is usually perfect. I love this lifestyle, it's so much healthier than the one I remember in the suburbs.

So, it's close to infuriating when I encounter the "soccer" moms in their SUVs who won't walk a single block or the kook at work who would give me a hard time for walking half a mile (.8km) to lunch on a beautiful day. Though, after I pointed out my guns and his gut the smug comments declined.

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