The slow death of purposeless walking (2014) • Hacker News Board

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#151

Post by Declanomous » Mon, May 16, 2016, 8:34 PM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #150

fuzzywalrus wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe this is my Northwestern showing but as a (nearly)lifer of the Pacific Northwest, I can honestly say that if I see someone walking, I assume they're out for a walk even when I lived in a town of 2500. I imagine this is the privilege of living somewhere known for natural beauty because I think "Why wouldn't you want to be outside?" It's fascinating to read about inherent fear of being questioned. I don't think it…

HN is full of people who are paranoid about the NSA, CIA, FBI, and local police department. Right or wrong, I don't think it's representative of the attitude general population.

To quote Nirvana: Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't after you.

I wouldn't say the general population trust police officers. Being able to trust the police is a form of privilege that minorities, the poor, etc. often don't have. Most individuals from an upper-middle class background don't have reason to distrust the government.

The people on HN are probably an exception. I think perception of law enforcement depends largely on whether a person has found the authority figures in their life to be benevolent or malicious. Authority figures, especially law enforcement, tend to view those outside the norm with suspicion.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#152

Post by johnchristopher » Mon, May 16, 2016, 8:42 PM UTC

jcadam wrote: post #67

Two years ago, I moved from Northern VA to the Florida coast. My house is about 4 blocks from the beach. The wife and I have taken to going on longish walks along the beach after dinner (or even just around the neighborhood on occasion). I'm usually lost in thought, so not much conversation happens, but I enjoy the walks. In NOVA, we lived in a fairly dense townhouse development with significant vehicle traffic and g…

How long is your commute (if you have any) ?

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#153

Post by MicroBerto » Mon, May 16, 2016, 9:06 PM UTC

swah wrote: post #145

MicroBerto wrote: post #109

My version of "taking a walk" is swimming laps. My finest work is accomplished in the pool, going back and forth. Been a swimmer all my life, and if I don't get at least a swim or two in each week, things start to turn to shit. It's my meditation, and despite being the most boring thing on earth for some people, it's one of my favorite things to do. Many introverted mathematical minds would love it, but you gotta lea…

I agree. I'd love to swim in the ocean, if I lived near it. (Of course, devising a way to safely swim alone)

I'm an accomplished ocean swimmer too, but now live in Texas. I will say that ocean swimming is a completely different ballgame, and you need to be far more on your toes.

For me, it's not a "thinking man's" sport out there. It's a "get out of this fast and alive" and keep an eye on my line of sight sport.

But if you're a swimmer, I do encourage open water swimming if you want a good rush. Exhilarating. Wear a bright colored cap and if you get the "willies", just get the F outta there. Live to swim another day.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#154

Post by erikpukinskis » Mon, May 16, 2016, 9:07 PM UTC

I love walking. I would say roughly 50% of my hours programming are spent on foot.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#155

Post by Declanomous » Mon, May 16, 2016, 9:21 PM UTC

alphapapa wrote: post #129

vidarh wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once of the reasons I want massively more dense residential areas in cities is because I want city living but shorter distances to large parkland. I live in a relatively green area, but still my street alone (~660 houses)"wastes" around 40,000 m^2 of space compared to new high rises on the way near our local station. I'd love to see far more of the residential areas compressed like that, if only it meant a reasonable…

I don't understand the desire to stack people on top of each other and "compress" and optimize residential areas. Apartment living stinks. Noisy neighbors, crowded living spaces, no yard to play in or have a pet in, more risk of fire caused by neighbors and loss of life and property, noisier environment outside, the list goes on and on. I guess if you're wealthy enough to live in a nice condo with thick concrete wall…

I don't know what evidence you have about people not living above one another. We've been doing it for thousands of years at this point.

I personally think the best places I've ever lived were areas where the housing stock is primarily three flats. You still have a lot of space, and you can find space to be alone when you want to be. The density enables a lot of amenities within walking distance, as well as making casually meeting neighbors easy. More densely populated neighborhoods have the lack of space you describe.

I moved to an area with a similar lot size, but all the houses are single family. It's borderline unwalkable, and it's still much more densely populated than the average suburb. The suburbs I think are the worst density imaginable. You are still close enough to other people to annoy one another, but not close enough to interact in a humanizing way. Most of your interactions will be only when someone intrudes into your bubble in some way.

I think there are a lot of benefits once you get up to a more rural density. You can have a shop, you have fresh air, and nature, etc.

The midpoint where you aren't stacked is the worst in my mind though.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#156

Post by Spooky23 » Mon, May 16, 2016, 9:22 PM UTC

hrayr wrote: post #131

Spooky23 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A guy I went to high school with is in the process of walking across the United States. He's pushing his gear in a cart that looks like a baby carriage. His first week on the road, someone frantically called the cops to report a man walking down the road with a dead baby in a stroller.

I think you may be referring to this guy. He did an AMA on reddit [1]. He also posts updates on his instagram[2]. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/4iqo3g/im_the_guy_wal... [2] https://www.instagram.com/bendoeslife/

Different dude... This guy is going the opposite direction. Good guy going on a pretty neat adventure.

https://altamontenterprise.com/05062016/one-step-time

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#157

Post by cableshaft » Mon, May 16, 2016, 10:25 PM UTC

alphapapa wrote: post #126

cableshaft wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If by 'bus factor' you mean not noticing a city bus running me over, well I don't plan to do the walking on a city street, but in a park or forest preserve. There's a bunch near me. The chances of being hit by a bus would be borderline non-existent, and I'd expect the view to be fairly translucent by default anyway. If by 'bus factor' you mean the business term of concentrating too much knowledge in one person and su…

LOL! Good grief, man, it was a joke! You just deconstructed it down to its subatomic components, leaving nothing but a pile of gray goo. You're like the LHC for jokes.

Well, my response was basically a joke too (of course he meant being hit by a bus), my brain just brought up other possibilities right away and I ran with it to show how something as simple as that phrase can be ambiguous.

Although I probably did come across as a pedant considering how straight I wrote it, so fair enough.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#158

Post by dalke » Tue, May 17, 2016, 5:25 AM UTC

vram22 wrote: post #111

Spooky23 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A guy I went to high school with is in the process of walking across the United States. He's pushing his gear in a cart that looks like a baby carriage. His first week on the road, someone frantically called the cops to report a man walking down the road with a dead baby in a stroller.

>walking across the United States Long back I had read an article or series in National Geographic about an American who did that - walked from coast to coast. Great story.

Probably https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Walk_Across_America :

> Walk Across America is a nonfiction travel book first published in 1979. It was the first book written by travel author Peter Jenkins, with support from the National Geographic Society. The book depicts his journey from Alfred, New York to New Orleans, Louisiana. While upon his journey of self-discovery, he surmounted the travails of travel, engaged himself in others' lives, lost his best friend, experienced a religious conversion, and courted a new wife.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#159

Post by dalke » Tue, May 17, 2016, 7:15 AM UTC

christophilus wrote: post #71

1782635782 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having the time and energy to go aimlessly wandering was a luxurious privilege until very recently You just made this up.... Firstly, you have never been around since the beginning of humans, and secondly, you haven't even read any history books if you think humans have always been extremely busy and that somehow they are not now. The opposite is actually true. Humans have had a lot more free time in the past. It i…

Yeah. A political scientist I know told me that at some points in Catholic history people had almost 1/3rd of the year off. I couldn't find a reference for that, but this site indicates about 1/4 of the year off as leisure time: "Altogether there were about 80 days of complete rest with over 70 partial holidays, that is, about three months of rest spread over the year." http://www.traditioninaction.org/History/A_021_…

A popular past time in the medieval era was to go on a pilgrimage. Something like 1/2 the population in some areas went on at least one pilgrimage in their lives.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#160

Post by dalke » Tue, May 17, 2016, 7:35 AM UTC

alphapapa wrote: post #129

vidarh wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once of the reasons I want massively more dense residential areas in cities is because I want city living but shorter distances to large parkland. I live in a relatively green area, but still my street alone (~660 houses)"wastes" around 40,000 m^2 of space compared to new high rises on the way near our local station. I'd love to see far more of the residential areas compressed like that, if only it meant a reasonable…

I don't understand the desire to stack people on top of each other and "compress" and optimize residential areas. Apartment living stinks. Noisy neighbors, crowded living spaces, no yard to play in or have a pet in, more risk of fire caused by neighbors and loss of life and property, noisier environment outside, the list goes on and on. I guess if you're wealthy enough to live in a nice condo with thick concrete wall…

There's no need for a condo association - have good sound isolation be part of the building codes.

The typical plan where I live is to have 3 or 4- story apartments in a square ring around a central yard. 100 years ago, that's where the pump, and the outhouse, and the pigs were located. Nowadays these are often play areas for the kids, small gardens, a BBQ area, and other ways to enjoy the outside while being isolated from the street noise and wind.

The building construction is quite solid. If we're making no noise, I can softly hear the piano upstairs playing. It's much nicer than the noise of the neighbors' lawnmowers when I lived in a house in the suburbs. My city has only about 60,000 people, so the noise even downtown isn't high. In the nearby big city of 500K people, buses, and trams, it's amazing how sound isolating triple-paned windows can be.

I think you're looking at solutions that are possible should one own a house, and missing that other solutions are possible with apartments.

In addition to the courtyard gardens, are also neighborhood plots, for those who are more serious into gardening. Many people who have a plot also have a little garden shed, with some furniture and such to make it sort of an escape from the house.

For a workshop, I joined the local maker's group, which is 4 blocks from where I live. They have a drill press, power saw, and other equipment for the rare times I need it.

There are also some lovely walking paths, the nearest dog park is 4 blocks the other way, and about 20 minute's walk away takes me to a part of the river set aside as a dog bathing area.

Of course if you want to keep a sled dog team, or do furniture building as a hobby, then your apartment options are limited. But for most people, being "stacked on top of each other" isn't a problem, and doesn't result in "much more stressful living."