The Crisis in American Walking • Hacker News Board

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#51

Post by noodle » Tue, Apr 10, 2012, 6:52 PM UTC

I'm currently living in the middle of Atlanta. High walk score, but walking around isn't really pleasant, and biking is less so.

I'm originally from Charleston, SC. I went back there recently because of a family member in the hospital, and I realized how much I really love that city simply because walking around and biking is so nice. The weather is nice, the streets are nice, greenspace everywhere, and you can literally walk the width of the peninsula in 15 minutes.

I wish more cities were like that.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#52

Post by bartonfink » Tue, Apr 10, 2012, 6:53 PM UTC

simmons wrote: post #48

enjo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 walki…

Somewhat different note, any interest in a Denver HN meetup sometime? I knew I couldn't be the only one but I'd like to meet more if anyone's interested.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#53

Post by lutorm » Tue, Apr 10, 2012, 6:53 PM UTC

davepeck wrote: post #20

A great start to what looks to be a promising series of articles. My Walk Score means a lot to me [1]; if you're looking for a new place to live, Walk Score's apartment-finding service is the best tool I know [2]. The commute times feature is a particularly interesting bit of tech. [1] Warning: I am irretrievably biased (see my profile.) [2] http://www.walkscore.com/apartments

Awesome site! We're going to be moving soon, so this is exactly what I need.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#54

Post by kia » Tue, Apr 10, 2012, 6:55 PM UTC

In US (not counting downtowns of large Cities like NY or SF) it is much harder to enjoy walking compared to most other places in the world.

First you just look weird here when you walk somewhere and you are the only person walking in the street. Drivers usually look at you like you are crazy (especially if you walk in the evening when it's getting dark).

The second and most annoying thing is that sidewalks here can end suddenly without a warning. You can walk somewhere enjoying the nice weather and the sidewalk ends suddenly! WTF? You have to turn back or continue walking using the side of the road looking even more weird.

And the most strange thing is that Americans use their cars to drive to places located within just a couple of thousand feet from their home. For a person from Europe THIS is really weird.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#55

Post by omegant » Tue, Apr 10, 2012, 6:55 PM UTC

It would be great if (new)cities where designed in small nucleus of 2 or 3 miles in diameter with homes around the business and commercial center, all surrounded by more or less green zones. This nucleus could be connected by subway or train. Obviously that is not going to work with old cities but here in Spain, Madrid has seen a huge grow this last decade (every thing is halted now but still you can see the town planing from the air) and the town planing has been non existent to disastrous (huge concrete islands surrounded by highways). Now you have all the inconvenience of vertical cities combined with the inconvenience of the suburbs...(No green zones, cant go walking anywhere...).

Obviously political and economical interest of the terrains to be built have priority over all this nonsense...

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#56

Post by tallyho » Tue, Apr 10, 2012, 6:58 PM UTC

noonespecial wrote: post #33

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.

I tried to take a walk in the suburban neighborhood where my parents live and was brought home in a police car . The neighbors called the police and reported someone suspicious walking through the neighborhood. Apparently, its just not done. I didn't have any ID on me so I was brought home in the cruiser so I could present my "papers" to the officer. Its a terrible thing to think but I distinctly remember being grate…

Nowhere in this country is a citizen required to carry or produce ID in public. Furthermore, officers need reasonable suspicion that you have committed, or are about to commit, a crime before you are required to identify yourself. You are never required to explain your actions.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#57

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Apr 10, 2012, 6:58 PM UTC

davepeck wrote: post #20

A great start to what looks to be a promising series of articles. My Walk Score means a lot to me [1]; if you're looking for a new place to live, Walk Score's apartment-finding service is the best tool I know [2]. The commute times feature is a particularly interesting bit of tech. [1] Warning: I am irretrievably biased (see my profile.) [2] http://www.walkscore.com/apartments

[deleted]

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#58

Post by dasil003 » Tue, Apr 10, 2012, 7:00 PM UTC

mixmastamyk wrote: post #50

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 SUV…

I had to do a double take after reading the last sentence as "After I pointed my gun at his gut...".

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#59

Post by cowpewter » Tue, Apr 10, 2012, 7:00 PM UTC

civilian wrote: post #41

cowpewter wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Well, 1 am I might still feel okay. Downtown Gainesville is full of nightclubs, and they don't close until 2 am, so there's a large number of (drunk) pedestrians milling around up until about 2:30 am.

It's 3-4am that I don't feel safe. I can't change my route, any detours I could take would only take me through even less safe areas.

I've considered mace/pepper spray but quite honestly I'd rather just avoid the possibility altogether. About a year ago there was homeless woman killed in that area.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#60

Post by simmons » Tue, Apr 10, 2012, 7:02 PM UTC

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.

You may be on to something. In some places, even walking downtown is suspicious. I'll never forget an experience I had in the 90's while working for a regional ISP in Alabama. I was spending the day at a town 60 miles away to work on our satellite POP, and decided to take a walk around the downtown to find some lunch. It just so happened that a sales guy from my office was also in town, and stopped on the main road and yelled "What happened to your car?!?!!" He was shocked that someone would choose to take a walk, and was telling people about the incident for weeks.

Of course, here in Colorado, it's not uncommon at all to find people walking or biking even way out in the suburbs. So I suppose attitudes vary greatly by region.