[Closed] why don't people walk any more?

Walk everywhere tbh generally 35-40 miles/week.

No dog just commuting, local stuff and enjoyment. It requires about as much effort as breathing

It's all down to urban design. Cities have sprawled, people's jobs have moved away from where they live, and driving to get to places has become the norm. Generalising wildly, if you walk somewhere, you're not likely to meet someone you know any more, the shops you pass will be similar or worse to the ones you drive to for your weekly shop, and you'll have to contend with street layouts that are full of guard railings, convoluted pedestrian crossings, and shedloads of traffic. I don't think people are lazy, but they need some kind of incentive. It doesn't help that we have a national tendency to treat a bit of rain as the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse.

If anyone's interested in an accessible, well researched book looking at why some places are "walkable" and others aren't, this comes thoroughly recommended:
http://thehappycity.com/the-book/

I don't really understand the "walking is dull" thing.

Do people go around with their eyes shut and their ears closed?

I don't walk as much as I should. When I'm visting somewhere I do loads of walking and will happily park some way away in free parking then walk to wherever I need to be. I walk to the local shop rather than driving to the bigger supermarket. But at work I tend to come in (by bike) and the just sit in the office all day so I'm making a concerted effort to get out for a walk at lunchtime now, even if I don't need to go out to get anything. I'm finding it's making a big difference, and I now get annoyed when someone schedules a meeting over lunch.

I had a long weekend in NYC in November. Walked 30 miles over the 4 days we were there. Hard to make progress though due to stopping at every intersection. If I lived there I doubt I'd own a car either

Why would anyone walk anywhere?

To feel the pine needles shift underfoot, to hear the snow crunch and the leaves rustle

To enjoy the journey and enhance the destination

To enjoy true, unfettered independence

To track the small rivulets along a footpath following a rain shower. To reach shelter and feel alive.

To reach that isolated spot next to the thorn tree above the tiny waterfall, view seven counties from your grassy tower., bask in the sunshine, serenaded by skylarks as the picnic is unfurled.

To smell the sun melting the tarmac and feel the warmth underfoot

To feel hot sand between your toes before and after the cold sea water

To get to the top of Cader Idris and roar like a lion

To accompany, encourage and allow our children to enjoy true independence and a chance to explore their environment

To lollop home from the pub along the towpath singing tunes to the bats, foxes and badgers. Hearing the tawny owls and the ice cracking, echoing as it thaws.

To move boxes froma van. To reach the shops, to listen to the town chatter as you stride out along the streets discovering where you now live. To be able to stop and talk, to explore and begin to make this town become home.

To burst the bubble of depression and let life back in.

To galumph along in giddy conversation with a group of friends when goofing about.

To deliver a letter or message with a real smile (not a smliey)

To get to school

To get to work

To get a pastie 🙂

Disclaimer - am biased as enjoy/ed walking very much.

*Edit - to see the broken glass glass and dogshit - reminders that some people probably don't enjoy walking, or at least don't care that others enjoy it.

^^^ You forgot about the dogshit and the broken glass. 😀

@thegreatape great picture

We have 2 dogs and I earn a crust by doing garden care and maintenance - a lot of mowing and strimming -
I walk a lot .

Another 'don't get the dull thing',regardless of location.

In another life I used to travel a lot with work. There are very few places in the UK that I have not visited.
There was no better way to quickly connect to a new area, and make it feel less transient, than walking as much of it as possible. About the same time, I was into distance running and would use the week nights away to find training routes in new areas. IMO, you have a far better experience once you have a place mapped out in your head.

I was in Glasgow the other week and my sister kindly dropped me off at the Royal Infirmary to visit someone.

She was worried about how on earth I'd get back to the hotel on Paisley Road (south side of the river) on a Saturday evening.

I said [i]"It's a nice night, I'll just walk."[/i]

From her reaction I might as well have said [i]"I'll use my invisible magic carpet[/i]" 😀
Apparently such a feat was completely impossible because it was like "ten miles" and involved "crossing the motorway and stuff". She hurriedly foisted the numbers for half a dozen different taxi companies onto me, clearly thinking I was a little unhinged.

I walked.

It was a pleasant couple of miles along a pretty direct pedestrian route, exactly as I expected.

I think this sorry tale is indicative of the greater issue: some people are so wedded to driving that that they literally have no concept of [i]how[/i] to get about on foot. It is completely alien to them. Their minds are full of roads, not pavements and footpaths.

It is exactly the same bewilderment you get when someone finds out you cycled to work: [i]"But it's like eight miles?!?!?"[/i] 😕

@thegreatape great picture

It's not mine sadly, but it looked nearly as goood as that last night.

I was working at home the other day, so walked the boys round to school with Mrs Tyred and the two of us walked home afterwards. Its about a mile or so, built up area, through a local park as well. The traffic is always busy - school run, people going to work etc - but there's plenty of people walking too.

What was noticeable the other morning though was the sheer lack of a shit given by several drivers towards pedestrians. Cars parked obstructively on the pavement, cars being driven through red lights, cars parked on double yellow lines etc, all commonplace. At one junction controlled by traffic lights, a woman pushing a pram had to wait (despite the green man showing) while a driver who'd moved into the junction through a red light joined the queued traffic through the pedestrian crossing, completely oblivious to the fact the pedestrian was waiting and entitled to cross.

I think this sort of behaviour is indicative of fewer and fewer people making routine journeys on foot. Once you're not doing it yourself, you're far less inclined to consider those still doing it.

The other thing that makes it harder in the UK is the weather...

Another common excuse with not much grounding in reality.

Wear a coat and hat, use an ubmrella if necessary, the same as all the people who [i]are [/i]walking do. If other people find a way to (trivially) cope with it then it's not much of an excuse.

I really like this idea:

[img] [/img]

It is an alternative tube map that gives the walking times between the stations. That's one way to get people too think about what they are doing.

(Full version is on [url= https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/walking/ ]the Walking section of the TfL website[/url])

This one is also useful, but for other reasons:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/lukelewis/the-london-underground-map-according-to-northerners

Paris is much bigger than it looks on a map ! London is much smaller. Weird.

Oddly my experience is the complete opposite.

I'm convinced if people walked more we'd see far less mental health issues. It gives you that downtime to just let things float around your head and chillout.

I think someone had it in a ealier. It depends if you live or work in a urban area, or suburban or rurL area. Our suburban areas are dead so there is nothing to walk to. I am referring to "utility walking" here rather than walking the dog, or walking a path for fun

The other thing that makes it harder in the UK is the weather...

I'm just off out for a walk shortly. Up to the tower (the joys of being self-employed 😀 ). We've been doing loads of walking of late. Mainly because the trails are so hellishly muddy, that walking is just a better option, so I've been doing it instead of riding. Much easier to just take off a pair of muddy boots by the back door, than deal with a bike and riding kit absolutely caked in filth!

Another vote for always walking around Cities too. But I also always remember what one of my old design lecturers always used to say....

when you're in a city, ignore the facades and stuff directly in front of you, and always look up. And he's right. Thats where all the interesting architecture and everything is. And its nice to bump into people because you're looking up at the sky, rather than looking down into the screen of an iPhone 😀

So on this forum there are quite a lot of people who walk.

I wonder if it would be the same on McDonaldsTrackWorld?

A few years ago I was in Washington DC and met an environmental campaigner that was so outraged at the Exxon Mobil disaster he stopped talking and decided to walk across America, coast to coast. Along the way he did an undergraduate degree and a Phd! It took him years, and he never said a word throughout.

I walk about 5-7 miles a day dog walking, absolutely love the cold frosty sunrises.

It took him years, and he never said a word throughout.

Well I bet that showed them.

Central London I'll often walk rather than tube as the tube can be crowded, stuffy and a lot of faff. Though there's a fair bit of walking to get to some of the tube platforms and it can be quicker walking above ground. I also quite like wondering through the streets, especially away from the tourist traps. More interesting.

Why would anyone walk anywhere?*

Because driving is so utterly rubbish.

A few reasons, the first one being laziness.

I think people need to have a reasonable disincentive to drive or get the bus before they would consider walking, but this is related to the second point: the massive blind spot people have when it comes to thinking objectively about what happens when they drive, with the cost, dead time, missed opportunity for some probably much-needed exercise etc. So it's rare that people think that driving is a bad option, except maybe in places where things are really 'bad' for cars and there's also a tube or something, like maybe London or NY.

Also there's design of cities and towns with many places making it easy for driving and difficult/unpleasant for walking, although I think this is a weaker excuse in the UK than it is in the US.

Then there's people generally not spending enough time outdoors and so being detuned to all the nice things you can see and experience when you're out for a walk.

I must say though, as a big fan of walking and never having owned a car, I do get fed up with the same plod to and from the shops and the station. So I think it's important to recognise that not every walk is necessarily an opportunity for a soul-refreshing reconnect with the world- sometimes it's just a PITA.

[img] [/img]

This is me Cinamon_girl 🙂

I walk to work, just over a mile each way, but in a couple of weeks I'm changing jobs so will then be riding 19 miles each way instead, so train and commute combined.

somewhatslightlydazed - Member

I don't really understand the "walking is dull" thing.

Do people go around with their eyes shut and their ears closed?

A huge number of the parents at my kids' primary school drive there even though the catchment area is, at furthest, 600m. Several of the parents drive even though they live less than 200m away. I've also seen a woman get in her car to drive about 50m around the corner to the shop and then all the way back around the block to her original parking place.

As someone above commented, it's no surprise that a large number of people on a site like this walk, but in the real world it's a fraction.

Yep same here. We walk past the house of one of my daughter's school friends. If they are getting into the car as we pass then we'll probably arrive before them!

Just measured it on Google - it's a 350 metre walk from their house. 😯

Whilst walking is good for you... walking next to car fumes had now been proven to increase your chances of cancer etc..sadly its now catch22...unless the powers that be can reduce cars in urban areas I'm not sure walking will be on the increase any time soon...

I like to think of myself as fit and active, but unless I'm pushing the baby to sleep in the push chair, I'd much rather jump on my cargo bike and pootle around to wherever I'm going.
Even a 500m trip I'd rather do on the bike...

Our son's school is about 1.6km away, but again we cycle there. Some parents of a similar distance drive. The irony being they often park about 1.2km away in 'the other direction'. Seriously.

DrP

I'd much rather jump on my cargo bike and pootle around to wherever I'm going.
Even a 500m trip I'd rather do on the bike...

I can completely understand that if you're lucky enough to be able to store your bike somewhere readily accessible.

It's a five minute fight with the shed to get mine out, by which time I could have walked.

I'm really shocked by these tales of people driving less than a mile.

Sadly I don't walk as much as I did a couple years ago. I lived six miles from work and once I got it in my head that I could walk it I did (took an hour and a half each way). It was tough for a couple of weeks but I got used to it (raeely walked every day, need to visit sites up to 70 miles away every now and again). Was doing 40-55 miles a week at my peak.

But I had to move, now I'm 17 -19 miles away, not really practical.

I walk to the shop (2k round trip), park at my sisters when in town and walk 2-5 miles round town.

I also live by a river so a half hour will get me along the best stretch and back, seen otters fairly regularly and a kingfisher once. Other direction is a nice riverside walk into the village too (2.5-3 miles each way).

Yeah why would anybody want to walk that?

I honestly can't contemplate why someone would drive to the shop over such a short distance, it only takes 30 minutes including 10 minutes going round the damn place.

It's just not Scottish is it?

We used to have people who took great delight in proclaiming exactly how far they were prepared to walk. Up to a thousand mile on some occasions.

I'm really shocked by these tales of people driving less than a mile.

Exactly, it only takes 15 minutes to walk a mile. Your car doesn't have a hope of warming up at all. Can't be good for it.

It's just not Scottish is it?

Busted, too tight to drive!

We used to have people who took great delight in proclaiming exactly how far they were prepared to walk. Up to a thousand mile on some occasions.

You're havering.
A thousand miles is a bit much. You'd fall down at the door after that.

I'm really shocked by these tales of people driving less than a mile.

shocked or suprised?

It still shocks me, but I'm no longer surprised by it.

I pass people (on my bike) on my commute, who work in the same office as me, several of them in the 1-2mile zone, but the worst offenders being the ones that live 0.5 miles from our office if they walked, but taking a round-the-houses 1.5 mile trip on the roads in their car instead 😯

vickypea - Member
I'm really shocked by these tales of people driving less than a mile.

It's really nothing new. I used to catch the train in to central London twenty five years ago and I'd walk past a couple of people getting in their cars just to drive closer to the station. I only walked for ten minutes from my house - they were halfway there.

even on a good traffic day it's rarely quicker over short distances, once you factor in starting-unparking-reparking time and as soon as you throw in a bit of traffic, some lights/junctions/roundabouts or having to clear ice off a windscreen first it's even more ridiculous!

I'm really shocked by these tales of people driving less than a mile.

Whilst not defending some of the school run, don't forget a lot of parents work now and (rightly or wrongly) they drive to work, so dropping little Johnny off at school on the way might only be a mile away from home but they might have a 20 mile drive after that, especially if it's on the way (and they like making 'progress'.

Of course, many are absolute lazy gits.

😆 @ benji

..they drive to work, so dropping little Johnny off at school on the way...

True... I do admit that two mornings a week I drive our 5 year old round to her childminders before school, which is all of ~500 metres away by foot 😳

But in my defence, I also have a two year old with me that I need to take to nursery 3 miles away, and then continue on another 6 miles to work. And I'm usually late as it is.

She does walk or cycle to school and back on the other 3 days of the week though.

Whilst walking is good for you... walking next to car fumes had now been proven to increase your chances of cancer etc..

You do know that exhaust fumes are more concentrated inside cars, don't you?

cinnamon_girl - Member

Give us a selfie magnetodog.

[img] [/img]

My boss actually lives on site and drives to work quite often a journey of about ½ mile as you have to go in a roundabout way, the walk is about 300m 😆

My point about the weather was more a reason people give for not walking. If it's hammering it down I'll skip the bike and the walk and grab a taxi, means I'm not surrounding by wet stuff all day and it's easier. In NW of the UK when Cumbria picks the brunt of the incoming weather strolling along as horizontal sleet pelts you in the face is a bit much unless your trying to prove a point.