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I was recently in Ohio, where my plans included a walk in the snow. It was going, I told everyone listening, to clear my head and afford a privilege I never enjoy in Phoenix: the pleasure of a pleasant walk in real time. I imagined gusts of crisp, cold Midwestern air and a bracing wind at my back; maybe i would meet a like-minded fan of walking in the cold and we would have a bonding experience.
It turns out that walking in the snow is boring and uncomfortable, just like walking in Phoenix, except in the cold. There isn’t much to see, and the people walking past you are giving you looks that clearly say, “Poor fool, don’t you know nobody is walking here?” “
The experience made me think of how nobody walks in Phoenix either. I thought of all the times I’ve been downtown in the middle of a weekday, and the whole place looks like a deserted movie set. (Try this: sit in a downtown cafe on a Tuesday at noon and count the number of people coming out of office buildings and walking straight to a parking lot.) And back when I was interviewing an architect at the about an expensive suburban development was doing in Paradise Valley. It had included an uncovered trail so residents could walk from their homes to a local hangout to socialize.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” I remember asking him.
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Nobody walks in Phoenix. There are many reasons why this is so, including dehydration and heatstroke, but also because walking makes you feel bad. I was at the opening of an art gallery last week and an old friend walked in. As we hugged, he proudly announced, “I walked here! He didn’t have to tell me; he smelled of sewer. Walking in Phoenix makes people sweat, and then they arrive at events all wet and stinky in the locker rooms.
You can walk for miles in other big cities – New York and Chicago come to mind – and never get bored because there are things to look at, places to stop for a drink or a snack. , and because the sidewalks are properly sized for pedestrians. I tried to walk here once, but it’s all the wasteland that made me walk. I walked half a mile before turning around, because all I saw other than the rubbish and the scorching pavement was the bane of undeveloped wasteland. Maybe if there was something to watch, the Phoenicians would sometimes leave their cars behind.
But there is no pedestrian infrastructure here. Why would someone (who isn’t trying to lose a few pounds) walk from point A to point B in a town where there is really nothing to see along the way? I know what I’m talking about: my wife is one of those annoying people who jump out of bed in the morning, attach an iPod, and go for a three mile hike through town. He still rolls his eyes when, on his return, I ask him, “How was your walk?” Have you seen anyone
His response is always the same: “It’s Phoenix. I saw a lot of cars and sidewalks and absolutely no shade. Why are you always asking me that?”
I guess because I hope that will change someday – not because I intend to start walking, but because I wish I had the option to do so without passing out. And besides, a city designed for walking is a more interesting city. This is the message that the Phoenix Downtown Urban Form Project recently sent, via press releases about a “more integrated and sustainable downtown”. The plan proposes to rezone residential, commercial and office projects to create a more attractive downtown area filled with shade and more pedestrian streets and sidewalks.
“These are small steps,” my new pal William Janhonen, a green-minded architect, told me. “Usually this type of planning is done while a city is being planned. So now you need to renovate an entire city for planned connectivity, or ways to make walking comfortable for everyone. It’s a lot of work, and it’s going to take a real commitment from the city to be successful. “
Oh no.
Bill would love to see Phoenix do what Santa Fe did. “Over there, they have walkways and street misting systems – whole swathes of town where they’ve spent time and money getting people to embrace walking,” he says. “People aren’t going to walk in 120 degree heat on 135 degree sidewalks. Phoenix has covered parking for cars – but what about shade for people? The city is going to have to bite. the ball, make cost and action sacrifices. “
I will do what I can to remain cautiously optimistic that one day there will be something more than a few stretches of shade trees by the canal. It will help me forget that 2006 survey I read online, the one done by the American Podiatric Medicine Association called “100 America’s Most Walkable Cities.” Phoenix placed 33rd; Scottsdale 40th. I’ll try to stay focused on the fact that Tucson was 79th on the list.
I’m not complaining, mind you. I would not walk, whatever the configuration of our city. But it occurs to me that at a time when we are paying over $ 4 a gallon for gasoline, it would be nice to have the option of walking to work, school, or even the city. across the street for a cup of coffee. , instead of having to drag our cars with us because that’s how we were trained by a city that is not pedestrian friendly.
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