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The Crisis in American Walking

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Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#91

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

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.

Around here, the only bank ATMs that are not drive through are at the banks that are inside grocery stores.

You usually can't walk up to a drive through. Although my wife has ridden horses to the McDonalds drive through window before...

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#92

Post by backprojection »

Goronmon wrote: post #78
backprojection wrote: post #66

"Carlin Robinson, 12, walks from her grandmother's car to the school bus in Manchester, Ky. Her house can be seen in the background. A study published in 2010, investigating high obesity rates in the town found that residents used cars to minimize walking distance, to the detriment of their health." Association != causation. While the picture this caption is from is indeed ridiculous (grandmother driving her daughter…

Now this is still a controversial topic [5], but my point this kind of explanation seems much stronger and more on-the-mark, than such flaccid ideas like 'americans are getting fat because they don't walk to school anymore'. I interpreted the article's point is that people avoid any form of physical activity at all cost. One example being driving a child to the end of a driveway instead of letting them walk. If physi…

It's not awful, it just seems off-the-mark. My point is that it seems avoiding physical activity at all costs is better viewed as a consequence of such a metabolic disorder, less so than a cause.

I completely agree that exercise is very important in maintaining health (exercise, especially weight-training is know to increase insulin sensitivity to some degree, for instance), I just think its role in weight-loss, for most people, is greatly exaggerated compared to fixing a diet which actively promotes fat storage (going beyond a caloric excess).

We've been telling overweight people to exercise more and eat less (esp. fat) for 40 years, it simply doesn't' seem to work [1].

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-...

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#93

Post by hjhjhj »

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…

I've been living in more car centric semi-rural area for the last two years and I have been stopped by the police 7 times.

I had a job where I walked to work .7 miles and people would ask me almost every day if I need a ride home.

Someone told me that the few remaining buses in the town should be eliminated because they only service the scum and losers of society.

I've had 4 cars attempt to hit me on my bicycle because they felt and yelled that I should be riding on the sidewalk.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#94

Post by vlod »

bartonfink wrote: post #52
simmons wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm in Boulder, but I'd travel to Denver.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#95

Post by saryant »

kia wrote: post #54

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 e…

> 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.

That's definitely true. When I lived in Strasbourg I thought nothing of walking 20 minutes to the hypermarche. I enjoyed it. Now, back in America, I live ~5 minutes from a major grocery store but I would never walk there.

Not only are there no sidewalks but I'd have to cross a major street and the intersection doesn't have pedestrian signals. It'd be suicide.

And this isn't Middle of Nowhere, USA. I live in the middle of San Antonio, TX. Five minutes from the Riverwalk. It's nuts but it's the way it is.

(Though the Texas heat may have something to do with not walking as well)

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#96

Post by bmelton »

noonespecial wrote: post #64
tallyho wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm sure if I'd simply explained that to him, everything would have worked out fine for me, yes?

It depends on your definition of fine, but probably, yes.

If 'fine' means not hassled or delayed in any way, then it already didn't work out 'fine'. If you're willing to add on another hour or two waiting, perhaps the night, waiting at the police station as 'fine', then you're still good.

I'm not sure if you're concerned that you would have been beaten or harmed? I'm sure it's not out of the question, it never is, but so long as you remained peacable as you explained it to the officer, I'm guessing it wasn't likely.

Every district / cop / municipality is of course different though.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#97

Post by simonz05 »

Growing up on the Norwegian country side. We walked or went by bike in the summer. In the winter we went by ski or "spark" [1]. I remember on Saturday's we were allowed to go to the closest grocery store for candy. This was 4 km away. The trip took me and my sister one hour each way. We were 6 and 8 years old by the time.

From the age of 9 I went by bike to school each day. I loved riding that bike — such a freedom. I never thought about those 14 km back and forth[2]. From and to school was just about getting there. After school involved more activities.

Currently I reside on one of the most bicycle friendly cities in the world. Approximately 40% use their bike to work in Copenhagen. I always use my bike when I can. During the summer we sometimes bike around the isle of Amager. It's 42 KM all the way around, but the trip takes you through so many different scenes of nature.

To me, getting around by foot or bike, is freedom. It's the only way I know. I can drive a traktor, but have never driven a car.

[1] http://g.api.no/obscura/pub/978x1200r/04135/1326712053000_Sp... [2] http://g.co/maps/nck6s [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Porsche_Traktor_Diesel_Sup...

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#98

Post by snowwrestler »

misterbwong wrote: post #26
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 mea…

253.3 cm/s is the maximum men's walking gait, which probably looks something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2urNVmKnEaQ

For comfy gaits, the study reported 127.2 cm/s for women (2.8 mph) and 146.2 cm/s for men (3.2 mph). That matches my own experience walking and hiking.

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#99

Post by koji »

I consider similar things to this every time I'm in a parking lot. If you think about it, all parking lots are poorly designed. It is obvious that people will need to walk to and from their cars when in a parking lot. However, you rarely see appropriate walking corridors (sidewalks, marked lanes, etc) specifically for pedestrians. This is especially noticeable, and dangerous, in the narrow confines of underground parking garages.

The bias to favor the car is clearly evident. Who is the customer? The car or the driver?

Re: The Crisis in American Walking

#100

Post by Someone »

misterbwong wrote: post #26
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 mea…

Looking at figure 1, page 17, that 2.5 m/s is mean maximum speed, not comfortable speed. That's about 1.5 m/s. I think 2.5 m/s is high, even for mean top speed.
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