What Is It With Sidewalks In The US?
In the US, streets often times don’t have sidewalks. Doesn’t that contribute to a lack of fitness and increases in obesity?
The Walk Is Mine On Blue Bayou
Back when I lived in the US for the first time, in a small town in Louisiana to be precise, one thing stood out for me: many streets didn’t have sidewalks.
To a German that is rather peculiar, as we have a tendency to build sidewalks whenever we build a street. Which means we end up with quite a few streets that feature sidewalks just about nobody ever walks on. That in turn probably says a lot about the German tendency to perfectionism.
(We, by the way, also can’t build streets without lining them with trees, but the Germans and their relationship to their forests is a different topic.)
The Suspicious Pedestrian
But no matter, with that social conditioning it was natural for me that short distances are to be done by foot. As the local Wal-Mart was practically around the corner and nearly the town’s only shopping place, I also had, in my perception, a perfect pedestrian destination.
Up to that point I had been taken everywhere by car, making my first attempt at walking there the act of revelation: despite being in what was a through-and-through residential area, there were no sidewalks. Going anywhere by foot meant you had to walk on the street. That, however, didn’t perturb me too much. I reasoned the city authorities simply were practical and considered these streets so quiet that you could walk on them without running the risk of getting a 4×4 into your neck (we are in Louisiana, after all).
Unfortunately the impression didn’t last. When I walked on, the few passing cars actually slowed down, their drivers giving me side glances, and people on porches watched until I left their line of vision. It became clear that I was doing something regarded unusual. The lack of sidewalks was not due to practical consideration.
This was reinforced when I finally got to the highway that neatly dissected the town in two parts. It was the last obstacle between me and the Wal-Mart. But there were no pedestrian lights and crossing this broad expand of asphalt gave me a very good real life idea of that ancient computer game Frogger. It seemed nobody ever figured that anyone could attempt crossing it by foot.
Sidewalk in an Atlanta residential area.
Still, Louisiana sometimes is a bit unique compared to the rest of the US and I wasn’t going to judge a whole country by what I had experienced – it could be different elsewhere. But when some years later I went on to Michigan, its smaller and even medium-sized municipalities greeted me with the sight still familiar from the South: newer streets didn’t feature sidewalks and on the older that had them, they often were dilapidated enough to render them unusable.
Of course, in many larger cities, like Washington DC, Dallas or New York City, sidewalks in good repair are everywhere. And when three years ago I visited a comparatively small town and beach resort on the east coast, I couldn’t believe my eyes: the vast majority of streets provided pedestrians with a neatly kept sidewalk and using them was just about as natural as it is to people here.
The Act Of Walking
I already said previously that the simple act of walking is fitness. Fitness without really being fitness, because you can walk with the clear goal of getting somewhere, instead of moving just for the sake of moving. It is practical and burns quite a number of calories. Certainly fewer than jogging, but many, many more than taking the car.
That makes me wonder: why don’t US city planners emphasize it more? Why is walking in some places so frowned upon? Are these regional differences?
Pictures courtesy of Bart Everson and “PEDS“.
19 Comments
I often find that when I sidewalk is not provided countless people will make their own path. I think when you see that a path in the grass or through the big box stores landscaping had been created it is time to put in a sidewalk.
Recently in Toronto where I am at there has been a lot of talk about restaurant patios taking up sidewalks and also wide advertising pillars.
You don’t want to be trying to walk upstream here when the commuters are mostly walking downstream add obstructions to that and you get a disaster.
Yup, people will make their own path and I think when many do, that clearly shows that is exactly where a real one should be build.
Our neighborhood doesn’t have any sidewalks but we always have lots of runners, walkers, bikers….
However, it is very rare in our town for people to walk to do their errands – part of it is distance and the rest…?
Yes, distance certainly plays an important role in the US. Many Europeans have no idea how big they are.
As for the rest your guess is as good as mine. One connection I see is that at least partly Americans were taught that cars are the best form of transportation. Los Angeles is a good example:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/green-driving/news-and-notes/conspiracy-theory-where-have-all-the-streetcars-gone/article6632715/
There are very few sidewalks in my town and very few walkers. There could be a correlation! When I was in New York, people walked everywhere because traffic was so terrible and you could walk faster than you could drive.
I certainly think the correlation is there. I certainly didn’t attempt to cross that highway more than that one time.
There are no sidewalks in my neighborhood, but it’s quiet so you can basically walk on the street. 90% of the young mothers I know are runners. However, very few people walk (except those who walk their dog). Probably because they would get nowhere… there is no commercial zone in kilometers.
That certainly contributes to it. With the rise of shopping malls outside of city limits, small stores within towns died and by foot there practically was nowhere to go.
I vividly remember that the above small town I lived in had a practically empty central square where once upon a time probably all its small stores were located. It so much breathed the spirit of the 50s and resembled the town square in “Back to the Future” it was almost uncanny.
Of course, contrary to the one in the movie, this square consisted of one abandoned store sitting by the next. What John Steinbeck wrote about changes in American culture in his 60s “Travels with Charley” came to my mind – here was evidence to his words and I found it very depressing.
Most rural areas in the US don’t have or need sidewalks. Every urban area I’ve been to in the US has plenty of sidewalks!
The reason our infrastructure is falling apart is because we have invested too heavily in being militaristic, rather than putting the money and resources into peaceful, important areas.
Something Germany has never done, eh??
Just to make sure: I don’t mean this as criticism of the US. I just note differences. Jupiter knows there is enough about Germany that is less than stellar.
The Nazi regime btw spent a lot of money on expanding the German autobahn system while remilitarizing our nation. The purpose of the first probably was to aid the latter.
Hey, who needs a sidewalk when you have a car…
P.S.: Damned you, Evil, I just spent 1 hour of my life reviving the old ZX Spectrum times…
Hahaha, me too. I did a search for Frogger, just so that people who hadn’t heard of it understood what I meant, found that site and ended up trying to get the frog across myself.
Was it always this hard? 😀
There’s actually a busy road near me, that not only doesn’t have sidewalks, but it has deep holes all along the side of it from the lazy construction job that was done on it a year or so ago. I don’t think they could’ve been lazier.
Or it’s the city’s new natural steeplechase course! 😉
Lack of sidewalks is a real barrier, and encouraging fitness is best served by removing barriers. Two opposite examples near my house:
1- Next door to where I live there is a giant office park all owned by one big telecommunications company. I’m in a small town, and when the company moved here years ago the town managed to negotiate that while putting up these office buildings they would also make walking paths, etc.. The result is a very pleasant area with easily a few miles worth of sidewalk going around well land scaped buildings and a couple small ponds. Great idea, and every time we go for a walk I see at least a half dozen other people doing the same. Build it and they will come.
2- I live in New England, so Dunkin Donuts Coffee is basically a requirement. There is a Dunkin less than a mile from my house, in the opposite direction from the office park. There are sidewalks most of the way, till the end of my street. At that point between me and the Dunkin is a short bridge over a highway, and 2 traffic lights (with no crosswalk) on a 2 lane road. No sidewalk for the only part there’s a real need for one. Consequently, though we get ice coffees pretty often througout the summer, I have not once walked to the Dunkin. Walking in the street through that overpass feels a little suicidal (especially with the way we drive).
I very much see that before me. And given my experiences, I know what it feels like. I reckon the Dunkin Donuts folks would have much interest in getting that situation taken care of.
Its the same way in TN and KY 🙁 IT MAKES ME SAD! Im a weird guy in town for walking everywhere and its quite a risk.
I wonder if more people feel like you, wouldn’t it work to get together and get the city officials to do something about it?
Unfortunately it is not many people who feel this way. People love their big cars here and they simply do not walk. We have one of the greatest overweight populations in the country in some of our KY cities.
Our city officials are not very interested in this issue. I hope to soon become a city official in my home town so this is one of the changes I would hope to be able to implement.