Comments | gryphonrhi: Because I'm curious?

gryphonrhi

Because I'm curious?

Aug 29, 2004 19:13

I knew that my old home in Memphis had spoiled me for a lot of things -- but I wouldn't have thought that sidewalks were a luxury. The section of Columbia, SC I was in didn't have them, and Nashville... has sporadic sidewalks. Here for a while, then gone. On one side of the street, but not the other, and no way to get the traffic lights to let ( Read more... )

exercise: walks, day in the life, the south

Comments 10

ciceqi August 29 2004, 18:00:39 UTC

Randomly, because I find this amusing...

The sidewalk phenomenon seems to go hand-in-hand with the ditch phenomenon. In Portland, there are no ditches. In Portland AND the Columbia River Gorge, there are no ditches. There are plenty of sidewalks, but no ditches.

Back home in Arkansas, there are ditches. Also storm cellars, another thing you will NEVER SEE in Portland or the Gorge. There are not, however, many sidewalks to speak of. They get in the way of the ditches, see, and with as much water as there is to manage where I came from, if you didn't have the ditches, you wouldn't be able to FIND the sidewalks, much less walk on them.

So, how are the ditches where you are? *grins*

(The comment has been removed)

ciceqi August 29 2004, 19:59:20 UTC

*rolls eyes* Yes, of course there's water in Portland, and storm drains as well. As it happens, I'm in SE myself, eight or ten blocks from Hawthorne. But in Portland, we don't have standing water because we're so close to sea level it makes the average humidity feels like a built-in sauna from water never really GOES anywhere, but STANDS in the ditches so that you've always got at least mud at the bottom even in the height of summer with no rain for weeks. That would be the difference I was trying to point out. I'd say the sidewalk/ditch phenomenon had something to do with average community prosperity, but where I lived in the Gorge was a tourist town, fairly poor otherwise with only seasonal jobs, and still had more sidewalks than we did back in the South--where, incidentally, Rhi is at the moment ( ... )

iroshi August 29 2004, 18:24:02 UTC

There are sidewalks nearly everywhere in the D/FW metroplex. I think it's a handicap access legal thing.

kat_denton August 29 2004, 18:38:14 UTC

I live in a quasi-historic (1930) neighborhood. Wonderful brick or concrete (depending on the block) sidewalks from the WPA - some even have the stamp still in them.

Wonderful dog walking, rollerblading, little kids on tricycles sidewalks. Storm drains, too. And they just split our curbs and put in access ramps on all the corners in nifty terracotta colored concrete. All in all a great neighborhood - the trees arch over the streets and it's like driving down a green tunnel.

I don't think you were spoiled, Rhi. I think that's how it's supposed to be.

Kat

unmisha August 29 2004, 18:54:12 UTC

Heh. I live *right* on the major walking/biking trail in the city. Even downtown, I've felt ok walking/bussing home at 2am. (well, up until the bus stopped running, and I was facing a 4mile hike on the trail. That's what Flexcar is nice for.) That was more of a distance issue than safety, really.

On the other hand, my condo association constantly has people walking through the parking lot (on the backside of the buildings) because the side fronting the street Has *no* sidewalk! You can cross the street to use the sidewalk on the park side, but if you want to hit the 7-11 on our side, you have to cross back or use our parking lot.

And here and there at further removes from the city center, there are similar lacks of sidewalks. (And no plans to put new ones in - the City's theory being that there hasn't been an accident yet...)

unovis August 29 2004, 19:13:03 UTC

Geographically (topographically?) my neighborhood in Jersey City is a great place to walk through: small city sidewalks, stop signs, traffic lights, handkerchief-size parks. By law, there are public sidewalks all along the Hudson River, for my city and a few adjoining cities, and some stretches are very pleasant to stroll along (especially areas near Exchange Place). Sidewalks in my immediate neighborhood were made up of large squares of blue slate. There are some original stones left, but most of them were taken up and replaced by bluish cement stones. A few blocks have uneven and broken stones, so you have to look sharp, especially when you're wheeling a cart or suitcase. One or two drains in the neighborhood overflow when we have heavy rains. Heavy snow is a problem ( ... )