When the Street Becomes the Sidewalk
Walkable cities blur the line between pedestrians and cars.
Of course, we all know that across the United States, sidewalks are often a throwaway.
In some cities—and especially—in suburbia, there are parts of town where they don’t even exist. It’s a slap in the face to anyone who dares to be a pedestrian.
I’ve walked, hugging the curb where mailboxes are planted in the grass, one too many times in environments like that.
It’s a lonely feeling.
Everything is designed for the car driver and the homeowner.
There’s the street, with the receptacle at the end of your driveway for the mail. After you get your mail, you go through the garage back into your kitchen. From that kitchen, you do a double take anytime you see someone on foot through the window.
They look out of place. They could be dangerous.
Where sidewalks do exist, they’re a form of placation.
Something needs to be there, so they skimped. Sort of like a lame salad as the only vegetarian option on a massive, meat-fueled menu.
But you actually have it a lot better if you’re a vegetarian in an American city or suburb than if you’re a walker.
Consider how most U.S. cities feel on the sidewalk.