If I were Queen of the Universe... and a random act of crowdsourcing-cum-reality-checking

[capri0mni]

(I've actually been meaning to post this for awhile, and keep forgetting. Nothing in particular prompted this post, except the thought: "...Oh, ...yeah. I've been meaning to post about that...")

If I were Queen of the Universe...

I would require all housing delevopers to provide as much evidence of support for pedestrian traffic (and pedestrian-speed traffic [wheelchairs and the like]) as they are currently required to provide for vehicular traffic.

And for me, that would mean that if there are houses in a row along a street, there would also be a sidewalk that would make it easier for the people who live inside those houses to walk around outside, and actually go places.

...According to Audrey, this is only necessary on streets where there are at least two lanes and through traffic at highway speeds, but not quiet, residential neighborhoods. Because in quiet, residential neighborhoods, "normal" people just walk with perfect ease on the shoulder of the road, and it would be just as safe for me to use the shoulder of the road, if I got a tall bicycle flag for the back of my chair, so drivers in cars could see me.... But I think her view of reality is a little bit off.

Of course, up until I was 6 and 3/4, I lived in a quiet, residential neighborhood totally devoid of highway-speed traffic. And we had sidewalks. And people walked on the sidewalks, not on the shoulders of roads.

On the other hand, that was a long time ago (40 years). And maybe it is my view of reality that's off.

So I'm asking the "normal" walk-y people reading this (I think the majority of you are walk-y types): Do you, in fact, walk along the shoulder of roads in your daily life, and do you do so with perfect comfort and ease of mind? Or do you wish for a sidewalk?

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Sidewalk! Sidewalk! Sidewalk!

Yes, I'll travel in the road (against traffic) if I absolutely have to, but I hate it.

Being able to get around one's neighborhood without a car is vital for the health of the area. Kids, elders, poor people, and non-drivers are all members of the community.

There are advocacy groups on just this issue! Terms of art include "walkability," "TND" aka "traditional neighborhood development" (altho those folks are also big on many porch steps. No really), "human scale design."

Check under "Walking Organizations" at this link.

[meloukhia]

I'm bipedal and I *loathe* being forced onto the shoulder with a passion. Or into the street. Fort Bragg is supposed to be pretty walkable, but there are several places where it is functionally impossible to access something (like, say, a bank) without being forced to walk in the road.

Sidewalks are my strong preference! I would honestly rather be in a place geared to the convenience of people not in cars (and I also drive, which goes to tell you how strongly I feel about this).

[spiralsheep]

I grew up living four miles up a country lane with no pavements (sidewalks). Even back in the days when traffic was lower and slower it was still dangerous, especially when you add in the high hedges on either side which left nowhere for even an agile pedestrian to retreat to AND the twists and turns which meant even crossing the road to walk on the outside of bends didn't mean car drivers could see pedestrians. There were also, of course, cyclists and equestrians who, if they had any sense, probably also wished pedestrians had a pavement of our own. One of my neighbours walked up and down the side of this lane most days with a pushchair (road edges develop potholes in ways pavements don't) and several young children. The local council later negotiated with farmers to allow new footpaths along the edges of the fields next to the lane, on the field side of the hedge, but that wouldn't have helped a wheelchair user. Oh, and the local buses were required to be wheelchair accessible but because of the lack of pavements, even in the villages and outside pubs or churches, the buses were useless to bewheeled people.

Human beings deserve pavements as much as cars deserve roads. Pedestrians are part of any integrated transport policy. /European