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69 comments on Walking Towns: Universities, Military Bases & Pre-Auto Urban Areas
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I think that most of us recall having walked a lot (or rode a bike a lot) during our college days.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned but that does make a difference:
Walking is fine when the weather is good. But what if you are halfway home and it starts raining?
The typical college campus will have lots of public buildings in which one can take temporary refuge from a storm. The larger ones will also have bus systems. Walking becomes a much more attractive proposition if one knows that one can hop on the bus along the way if the weather turns bad, or if one sprains an ankle, etc.
(I am also old enough to remember when hitch-hiking was very common amongst college-aged people, and even the entire population. Where hitch-hiking is commonplace, it can partially substitute for a bus service. Unfortunately, the contemporary US is not the sort of society where people feel safe either offering rides to or accepting rides from strangers. Too bad.)
Thus, two keys to creating walkable areas might be to: 1) Provide places along walkways and bike paths where people can temporarilly shelter from bad weather, to the extent that such places do not already exist; and 2) Find some way to create a hitch-hiking-friendly community, or else serve communities with a good bus service.
WNC - I agree about both the increase in public spaces/buildings and safe hitchhiking communities.
Public spaces/buildings: The worst place to get caught out in the rain is a single-use zone solely for the purposes of a private property owner. Some of this is something that can be done by simply creating more mixed land uses. My favorite place to pop-in during a storm is a local coffee shop, bar or pizza parlor. Libraries and public spaces inside large building lobbies also work and don't cost anything. The other way would be to create shared places on the edges of public/private property - like little sheds on the side of the road with water, air for bike tires, whatever the private property owner or local municipality could easily provide cheaply.
Hitch-hiking community: Some of this could just be accomplished through greater familiarity with your neighbors and it could also be done in other ways through technology. Many ride-share web sites allow members to build their credibility and reliability by getting ratings from prior experiences similar to e-bay. I could imagine a service that allows people to request a pick-up through their cell phone and have a trustworthiness rating sent to a potential ride going in their direction.
Balconies overhanging the sidewalk work quite well. Trees are also useful but not as good.
Best Hopes for Rainy New Orleans,
Alan
Very nice point Alan. It's even better when there are interesting people to look at on the balconies...
That's a good way to walk into a bus stop sign. Been there done that.
Robert a Tucson
I haven't escaped from reality. I have a daypass.
Trees are especially not as good to be under during electrical storms. Any type of overhang or recessed entry will work -- if the public is allowed to use it.
WNC Observer,
I rode my bike 4 and a half miles each way to college in the late 70s/early 80s. In the central San Joaquin Valley in the winter it can be very cold, like in the high 30s / low 40s. But I would prepare myself by wearing a windbreaker jacket and have a change of shirts in my backpack. I did not have a membership to the gym, so I just used wet paper towels in a men's room to wash off presperation and then dry off and be all set for classes. I prided myself on not using a car those days. Occasionally I would use the bus, like when it rained. I would have to transfer once to a another bus line on the route. No big deal. But I preferred biking since it was much faster than the bus service.
I wonder about the elderly people or handicapped people. They need to plan on being near good mass transit.
Currently I live in Baltimore near a large shopping mall, an outdoor mall, and a bunch of restaurants and such. But I drive 14 miles to work. This is not a long term situation and I plan on being back in Phoenix by the beginning of next Fall. I don't mind the commutes because I'm renting. I think I can change my lifestyle very easily when the $150 per barrel of oil drives us all to crisis mode. I've been preparing for rough economic times since 2001.
Phoenix is building light rail from downtown to Mesa. I anticipate living in the area during the crisis, perhaps within 2 miles of a light rail station. There are a lot of jobs in my industry in Phoenix and they don't rely on cheap oil. I am prepared to use mass transit again for another 15 years before the nuclear energy and solar energy solution starts to kick in. Electric cars will be very popular in a few years. In fact my other scenario is to buy an electric car and continue my commuting habits when I move back to Phoenix. This keeps sparking my interest: http://www.teslamotors.com/
With years of bike commuting and walking experience in eastern Ontario, I can vouch for the usefulness of temporary shelter. Rainy days are predictable, and they can be managed. It's passing rainclouds that can wreck a trip. Overpasses, bus shelters, churches, doorways, coffee shops, etc., these can all help prevent the dreaded soakers.
I am wondering how "I use an umbrella" can not be an obvious response. I guess you just never heard of them.
Is there some subtle trap I am falling into?
My thoughts too. It's not too hard to carry one, although I have had to buy one at work once or twice. I like walking in the rain - it's the really hot, humid days that are the worst. I just walk a lot slower on those days. Trees or shade from buildings is good on those days.
Umbrellas are great for a mild sprinkle. In a real downpour, they are really only good for a quick dash from one doorway to the next, and even then you are still likely to get soaked below the waist. Not to mention that carrying a metal pole in the air whilst you are wet and thus conductive is not the wisest of ideas during an electrical storm.
Most downpours are relatively short term affairs, lasting 10-20 minutes or so. Most people will wait them out in a doorway or other shelter if they possibly can, then deploy their umbrellas once the rain has tapered off to a mild drizzle.
"worried about being struck by lightning"
Oh come on, that is a really lame excuse!
If we are using this sort of excuse ("I'm worried about getting a bit wet occasionally") what chance is there of getting car drivers out of their Faraday cages?
In a dense urban environment, with lightning rods common, the risk at street level is minimal. Less than running to the barn.
Alan
Build COVERED sidewalks with some of the money we save not building roads and with some of the road material we tear up to get farmland back. I learned that from the Ray Swangkee city-states-of-stone idea. In a society that travels mostly by walking, this would be worth it to protect from the heat of the sun, the annoyance of the rain, and the danger of lightning. Until then, have a plastic poncho in your backpack
Overhanging balconies add space for residences and shield walkers below (although not perfectly).
Some years ago, New Orleans outlawed new overhanging balconies, but this is not being challenged.
Best Hopes for a dry spot in an afternoon thunderstorm,
Alan