
The Crisis in American Walking - lysol
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/walking/2012/04/why_don_t_americans_walk_more_the_crisis_of_pedestrianism_.single.html
======
simonsarris
This is actually one of the biggest reasons why I do not want to move. I love
Nashua, New Hampshire because of how lovely it is to walk from the north end
of town.

I walk to work every day in seven minutes[1]. The city maintains a large
forested park that is a 5 minute walk from main street.

Every single weekend I walk to one of the fine cafes that exist on or around
main street for breakfast. On workdays at lunch I have a wide array of
restaurants, all within very reasonable walking distance. I purchase the fine
beers I drink from the same building I work in[2].

Simply taking walks I can peruse downtown, or head north to the historic
district and walk among the Victorian-era houses (I am living in one, built
1840, renting out the extra rooms to friends to make a kind of communal
house), or I can go to the northern park and follow rail tracks through the
woods, maybe swim in the Merrimack river (dangerous to amateurs but very fun),
or go to Mine Falls by main street and stroll through the surprisingly deep
woods in the heart of the little city.

I can go days without needing to use my car. I see walking as the norm in my
life. My friends treat it as an eccentric novelty. I fear the day that I won't
be able to walk to work anymore, and the simple walkable pleasures of my town
are a big factor in not taking a job in SV.

Suburbs don't _have_ to be horrible places, but as designed they seem very
lacking.

[1] <http://g.co/maps/8kvxg>

[2] Warning, a lot of NH businesses have websites stuck in 1995!
<http://www.boomchugalug.com/>

~~~
enjo
It's a reason that I _love_ living in Denver, Colorado. I live (affordably)
about two miles from Downtown. There is a huge network of urban walking trails
just a few short blocks form my house. I either bike or walk (or both thanks
to the bike share) to work almost every day (or take public transit when it's
really cold).

Since Denver is a very compact city at the core, I can get _anywhere_ in the
central city on foot. All the major sports stadiums and major cultural
attractions are within a mile or two of each other. Most of the cities best
bars and restaurants are clustered around the city center.

If you can live and work Downtown...it's just an amazing place to live. It's a
major city that is extraordinarily approachable.

~~~
simmons
I'll second that -- I loved living in Downtown Denver, and still visit as much
as I can. Funny, when I was reading about the seven-minute commute in Nashua,
I thought "that sounds like the commute I had in Downtown Denver," then saw
your comment.

I'm now living 6 miles out in Olde Town Arvada. It's actually a neat walkable
area with coffee shops, brewpubs, etc., although there are no major tech
employers within walking distance. (I work from home.)

~~~
bartonfink
Somewhat different note, any interest in a Denver HN meetup sometime? I knew I
couldn't be the only one but I'd like to meet more if anyone's interested.

~~~
molsongolden
I'm interested but won't be back until next month!

------
danso
In NYC, I think nothing of a 30min to 1-hour walk to get to dinner. In my
hometown, where there are sidewalks connecting my house to the "downtown", I
can barely walk 3 blocks without feeling weird. It's not just the practical
distance, or how "safe" it is to conduct the walk... it's the strangeness of
walking through something not as dense as NYC.

I've done far less formal exercise these days than I ever have at any point in
my life, yet I'm still about the same weight. I owe it all to walking,
including the four-story walkup.

~~~
kilowatt
This is so true. Although I'm not sure it's entirely about density --I think
part of it is just that you're so alone as a pedestrian. At least if you're
walking around my hometown, you might be the only one on the sidewalks,
barring neighborhood kids hopscotching around or whatever, for 2 miles, even
though there are homes and businesses everywhere. The psychological effect of
being such an outlier is really noticeable.

~~~
graeme
I feel exactly the same way in the Plateau area of Montreal. I'm in Society
when I go walking around, at any hour of the day or night.

I was recently in Calgary, and felt alone amidst giant buildings. It was quite
off-putting.

------
ojbyrne
Trying not to start a controversy or hijack this to an unrelated news story -
but my first thought when the whole Trayvon Martin thing happened - the thing
that alerts Neighborhood Watch types in bedroom communities isn't "walking
while black," but just plain old "walking." It's suspicious.

~~~
noonespecial
I tried to take a walk in the suburban neighborhood where my parents live _and
was brought home in a police car_. The neighbors called the police and
reported someone suspicious walking through the neighborhood. Apparently, its
just not done. I didn't have any ID on me so I was brought home in the cruiser
so I could present my "papers" to the officer.

Its a terrible thing to think but I distinctly remember being grateful for the
particulary large amount of light my skin happens to reflect that night.

~~~
tallyho
Nowhere in this country is a citizen required to carry or produce ID in
public. Furthermore, officers need reasonable suspicion that you have
committed, or are about to commit, a crime before you are required to identify
yourself. You are never required to explain your actions.

~~~
noonespecial
I'm sure if I'd simply explained that to him, everything would have worked out
fine for me, yes?

~~~
bmelton
It depends on your definition of fine, but probably, yes.

If 'fine' means not hassled or delayed in any way, then it already didn't work
out 'fine'. If you're willing to add on another hour or two waiting, perhaps
the night, waiting at the police station as 'fine', then you're still good.

I'm not sure if you're concerned that you would have been beaten or harmed?
I'm sure it's not out of the question, it never is, but so long as you
remained peacable as you explained it to the officer, I'm guessing it wasn't
likely.

Every district / cop / municipality is of course different though.

~~~
noonespecial
Its free for them to find something to charge you with. It costs you a great
deal to defend yourself, even if it comes out "fine" in the end.

~~~
bmelton
It's semi-free for you to file a civil suit against the arresting officer for
wrongful imprisonment as well.

I'm not saying it wouldn't be inconvenient, but fear of inconvenience isn't
necessarily a great reason to lay down your civil rights.

That said, I don't mean to imply any judgement, I'm just curious as to "what
would have happened". I've been in a number of scenarios similar to this one
and have never been beaten, attacked, or in court spending a great deal to
defend myself. Not to say it couldn't easily have happened, every encounter is
different.

------
kia
In US (not counting downtowns of large Cities like NY or SF) it is much harder
to enjoy walking compared to most other places in the world.

First you just look weird here when you walk somewhere and you are the only
person walking in the street. Drivers usually look at you like you are crazy
(especially if you walk in the evening when it's getting dark).

The second and most annoying thing is that sidewalks here can end suddenly
without a warning. You can walk somewhere enjoying the nice weather and the
sidewalk ends suddenly! WTF? You have to turn back or continue walking using
the side of the road looking even more weird.

And the most strange thing is that Americans use their cars to drive to places
located within just a couple of thousand feet from their home. For a person
from Europe THIS is really weird.

~~~
bunderbunder
I used to live in a neighborhood without sidewalks. People would often stop
their cars to ask me if I was OK and if I needed a ride somewhere when I was
walking to the local convenience store. It was less than a mile away.

One of the many reasons why I will probably not be moving back to the suburbs
if I can possibly avoid it. Most the others seem to center on walking, too:
Not being able to walk to the grocery store; not being stuck in a situation
where going out to the bar would be synonymous with drinking and driving, not
spending my after-dinner strolls in a ditch. . .

------
RyanMcGreal
I live close to the downtown core of my city and my daily commute is a 6 km
(3.7 mile) round trip by foot. People seem to think this is exotic if not
downright subversive, whereas they think nothing about sitting in a car for an
hour a day and stopping off at the gym for a workout.

Note that I'm not in particularly good shape and a walk of this magnitude is
not at all difficult. I arrive at work every day refreshed, alert and in a
good mood, and I arrive home after work feeling the same way.

You couldn't pay me enough to take a job at which I was forced to drive,
though I wouldn't mind cycling to work if the distance was too long to walk in
a reasonable time.

~~~
MatthewPhillips
Keep in mind that the number of U.S. cities where you would want to live
within a couple of miles of downtown can be counted on with 1 hand.

~~~
_delirium
I can think of quite a few... San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, New
York, Boston, Dallas, Austin, Houston. Even Los Angeles and Atlanta have nice
"new downtown" areas, though the traditional downtowns are sketchy (Wilshire
and Midtown, respectively).

~~~
excuse-me
I got pulled over by the police for walking in Houston

Running alongside the freeway is an access road where all the on-off ramps
feed. It has a wide sidewalk along the side and it was only a couple of
junctions between the hotel and the site I was visiting so I walked.

A police car immediately pulled up to ask where I was going and why?
Fortunately the English accent convinced them I was obviously merely some
pinko-commie weirdo and not a threat to Houston society.

~~~
angersock
HPD generally gives no fucks, sorry about that. :(

Maybe it was one of the little townships that still refuses to integrate into
the ever-expanding maw of Houston (think West U area)?

------
simonz05
Growing up on the Norwegian country side. We walked or went by bike in the
summer. In the winter we went by ski or "spark" [1]. I remember on Saturday's
we were allowed to go to the closest grocery store for candy. This was 4 km
away. The trip took me and my sister one hour each way. We were 6 and 8 years
old by the time.

From the age of 9 I went by bike to school each day. I loved riding that bike
— such a freedom. I never thought about those 14 km back and forth[2]. From
and to school was just about getting there. After school involved more
activities.

Currently I reside on one of the most bicycle friendly cities in the world.
Approximately 40% use their bike to work in Copenhagen. I always use my bike
when I can. During the summer we sometimes bike around the isle of Amager.
It's 42 KM all the way around, but the trip takes you through so many
different scenes of nature.

To me, getting around by foot or bike, is freedom. It's the only way I know. I
can drive a traktor, but have never driven a car.

[1]
[http://g.api.no/obscura/pub/978x1200r/04135/1326712053000_Sp...](http://g.api.no/obscura/pub/978x1200r/04135/1326712053000_Spark_INNI_4135577978x1200r.jpg)
[2] <http://g.co/maps/nck6s> [3]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Porsche_Traktor_Diesel_Sup...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Porsche_Traktor_Diesel_Super.jpg)

------
marknutter
This is part of the reason my wife and I are moving closer to the city. I've
been stuck in the suburbs my whole life and you have to drive literally
everywhere. The thought of being able to stroll over to the local market is
very appealing to me.

~~~
jerednel
Funny. I'm at the point where I'd trade that convenience to have a proper
yard. Or to not be startled by giant rats when I walk down an alley. Or not to
have to wait for 4 trains to pass you by because they're too full in the
winter. Or to not have to park 3 blocks away from my apartment and worry about
whether or not it is a street cleaning day or somebody got a permit to block
off the area I was parked at because I haven't driven in a day and a sign may
have been posted that lets the city tow any car in their path.

The point is, there are advantages to living in an area that may not be as
walkable...

But yes, the proximity is nice :)

~~~
enjo
You're just in the wrong spot:) I'm pimping Denver in this thread, but what
the hell, I'm going to do it again!

I live in a house with a proper yard. It's not suburban big (1100 ft^2 house
on a 4500 ft^2 lot), but it's really nice. I have a really cool grocery store
5 blocks away. I also have a small lake (that you can boat on) 6 blocks away
in the other direction. I have a 40+ bars and restaurants within a mile of our
house. Downtown is two miles down the hill, passing through one of the hottest
neighborhoods in the city which adds a bunch more bars and restaurants to the
mix. I routinely walk or bike to all of these places. My car is parked 90% of
the time. We mainly use it for trips to Ikea or to the mountains.

Oh and my house, in an amazing neighborhood, was less than $300K two years
ago:)

~~~
marknutter
Sounds a LOT like our new house. Very cool.

------
mixmastamyk
I live and telecommute in Los Angeles and belive it or not live in a walkable
neighborhood. It's near the metro station which I use if I need to go
somewhere en route, there are fantastic restaurants in walking distance, and
the weather is usually perfect. I love this lifestyle, it's so much healthier
than the one I remember in the suburbs.

So, it's close to infuriating when I encounter the "soccer" moms in their SUVs
who won't walk a single block or the kook at work who would give me a hard
time for walking half a mile (.8km) to lunch on a beautiful day. Though, after
I pointed out my guns and his gut the smug comments declined.

~~~
dasil003
I had to do a double take after reading the last sentence as "After I pointed
my gun at his gut...".

------
eugenejen
wow. I have been walking since my childhood living in two different cities
(Taipei and NYC). I really enjoy walking hours just to look at streets and
scenes in different hours of days. I feel that I can perceive the environment
while walking in much higher resolutions and bandwidth of information flowing
into my brain than driving.

I was interviewed once in Mountain View in 2006 and I remembered walking on El
Camino Real rd between Palo Alto and Sunnyvale on 100F July. I was the only
one walking on the road and it is pain in ass to cross road since the traffic
system is designed for cars. But I still remember vividly the scenes along El
Camino Real between Palo Alto to Sunnyvale until now, even just one day in my
life.

~~~
dasil003
Yeah El Camino sucks (and 100F to boot, that is probably less than once a year
occurrence), but it's quite nice to walk through the neighborhoods. I used to
commute 10 miles from Sunnyvale to downtown PA by bike (or maybe Caltrain if
the weather was bad). The first time I rode all the way on El Camino, but
within a few weeks I had pieced together a route that completely avoided El
Camino. I felt pretty proud of myself when I figured out all the pieces
through trial and error. A few months later Google Maps added bicycle
directions and nailed my route almost perfectly.

------
gamble
Not mentioned is the fact that something like 2/3 of traffic deaths in the US
are pedestrians struck by vehicles. That's around 20,000 people per year.

Auto manufacturers are pretty good at protecting the people _inside_ the car,
but we're not so good at protecting pedestrians.

~~~
dschleef
5 seconds of Googling indicates that you're making shit up:

<http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx>

The second half is, of course, completely correct.

(Edit: please read "making shit up" as "your source is inaccurate")

~~~
gamble
You're right. I did see the two-thirds figure quoted in an article elsewhere,
but I'll take the NHTSA's word over theirs.

------
hammock
Get your Walk Score: <http://www.walkscore.com/score/times-square-nyc>

~~~
dasil003
I'd like to see it with better UK support. My location near Clapham Junction
in London scores an 93, but honestly that's a little low because this is the
most insanely walkable place I can imagine. There are probably 300 shops
within a quarter-mile radius, I'm two blocks from full on department stores,
and there's even a Whole Foods three blocks away which is closer than I ever
was to one living in Minneapolis, Santa Fe, and Mountain View (3 of the
granolaiest places in America). Bus routes, I dunno, 30+? Rail links, no idea,
but there are 18 platforms! Parks? 500 acres within walking distance.

------
davepeck
A great start to what looks to be a promising series of articles.

My Walk Score means a lot to me [1]; if you're looking for a new place to
live, Walk Score's apartment-finding service is the best tool I know [2]. The
commute times feature is a particularly interesting bit of tech.

[1] Warning: I am irretrievably biased (see my profile.)

[2] <http://www.walkscore.com/apartments>

~~~
lutorm
Awesome site! We're going to be moving soon, so this is exactly what I need.

------
greedo
As a kid (10-13) I was fascinated by birdwatching, and often got up early to
go down to the estuaries near my house. I'd pack a lunch, my binoculars, and
field guide. It was about a 4 mile walk, but to a kid, that's nothing.

One morning, a sheriff's deputy and his partner pulled up, told me to stop,
and started asking me wth I was doing at 5am. They were amazed that I would
get up that early to watch birds...

Nowadays my hometown is a lot more "trendy" and the estuary is surrounded by
multi-million dollar homes. And I wouldn't expect that an unaccompanied minor
would be greatly appreciated by the LE community, nor would a kid that age be
as safe as I was.

------
koji
I consider similar things to this every time I'm in a parking lot. If you
think about it, all parking lots are poorly designed. It is obvious that
people will need to walk to and from their cars when in a parking lot.
However, you rarely see appropriate walking corridors (sidewalks, marked
lanes, etc) specifically for pedestrians. This is especially noticeable, and
dangerous, in the narrow confines of underground parking garages.

The bias to favor the car is clearly evident. Who is the customer? The car or
the driver?

------
minimax
In Houston, where I grew up, older people (retirees) used to drive to their
nearest indoor mall just after it opened for the day and walk laps around the
inside the mall. They wanted to walk but they didn't want to do it in the
heat. Some of those old guys, my grandfather included, could really move. I'm
curious to know if that's still common.

------
omegant
It would be great if (new)cities where designed in small nucleus of 2 or 3
miles in diameter with homes around the business and commercial center, all
surrounded by more or less green zones. This nucleus could be connected by
subway or train. Obviously that is not going to work with old cities but here
in Spain, Madrid has seen a huge grow this last decade (every thing is halted
now but still you can see the town planing from the air) and the town planing
has been non existent to disastrous (huge concrete islands surrounded by
highways). Now you have all the inconvenience of vertical cities combined with
the inconvenience of the suburbs...(No green zones, cant go walking
anywhere...).

Obviously political and economical interest of the terrains to be built have
priority over all this nonsense...

------
tsotha
Part of it has to be just time. I used to walk a fair amount. A few miles a
day. But as life became more busy there just wasn't time to walk to the
grocery store any more - I go to the grocery store on the way back from
somewhere else, because I just don't have an hour and a half to buy groceries
any more.

As an aside, is anyone else annoyed by the appearance of the word "crisis" in
the title of every damn news story? A crisis implies immediate danger. The
lack of walking Americans is not a crisis. Global warming is not a crisis.
Peak oil is not a crisis. These things are all problems, to be sure, but
problems we have some time to deal with. Let's save the word for situations
where it applies.

------
noodle
I'm currently living in the middle of Atlanta. High walk score, but walking
around isn't really pleasant, and biking is less so.

I'm originally from Charleston, SC. I went back there recently because of a
family member in the hospital, and I realized how much I really love that city
simply because walking around and biking is so nice. The weather is nice, the
streets are nice, greenspace everywhere, and you can literally walk the width
of the peninsula in 15 minutes.

I wish more cities were like that.

------
minikomi
I am addicted to walking. Tokyo is so perfect for exploring on foot. I've
thought about organizing a hike-n-hack - where a group of similar enthusiasts
take their laptops and walk for an hour or two, stop to hack in a cafe for an
hour or two, walk again .. Check out a gallery .. Hack again.. Walk again..
This is pretty much what I do on my days off anyway so if you're keen and in
the area let me know!

------
jgw
Sort of related - a funny observation that might amuse Americans about us
wacky Canucks:

An awful lot of Canadians, myself included, avoid drive-through ATMs, and
instead park and walk into the bank. And sometimes, when the bank's busy, we
walk up to the the drive-through ATM.

I did this once when I was a co-op student in Starkville, MS, and got some
really, really strange looks.

~~~
flurdy
Drive through ATMs? Never heard about that before. Suppose it makes sense in a
drive centric area, but then I only use an ATM once or twice a year and I can
walk to it if I need to.

But about the only time I do pay with cash nowadays is a drive through KFC,
perhaps they dont trust people to not drive off with their portable pin&chip
terminals...

------
backprojection
"Carlin Robinson, 12, walks from her grandmother's car to the school bus in
Manchester, Ky. Her house can be seen in the background. A study published in
2010, investigating high obesity rates in the town found that residents used
cars to minimize walking distance, to the detriment of their health."

Association != causation. While the picture this caption is from is indeed
ridiculous (grandmother driving her daughter essentially to the end of her
driveway for the school bus), the implication seems to be that Americans
walking less somehow has a causative effect in skyrocketing obesity rates.
This seems entirely wimpy and facile.

Here's an alternative: there exists an underlying metabolic disorder that
develops in a large proportion of the population, in response to something new
in our environment ( new compared to pre 1950's ). A major effect that this
disorder has is to partition a large part of our calorie intake towards fat
storage. Now we have less energy available for expenditure, and as a
consequence we either eat more or behave more sedentarily. Sedentary behavior
will be a compensatory effect, that will indeed associate with obesity ( as
measured by observational studies, like the one mentioned).

A good candidate for such malady would be insulin resistance [1] (and more
generally, metabolic syndrome); Gary Taubes makes a very compelling case [2]
that this is indeed the case, and that the primary change(s) in our
environment to cause these problems is our marked increase in sugar and
refined carbohydrate consumption [3][4]. The same hypotheses also seem a good
explanation for rising type II diabetes rates.

Now this is still a controversial topic [5], but my point _this kind_ of
explanation seems much stronger and more on-the-mark, than such flaccid ideas
like 'americans are getting fat because they don't walk to school anymore'.

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin_resistance> [2]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Calories,_Bad_Calories> [3]
[http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/Cleave/cleave_ch2.h...](http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/Cleave/cleave_ch2.html)
[4] [http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2012/02/by-2606-us-
die...](http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2012/02/by-2606-us-diet-will-
be-100-percent.html) [5]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin_resistance#Causes>

~~~
snowwrestler
I think you probably don't have a good sense of just how much energy walking
and other continuous small movements burn. There have several studies that
showed that even different amounts of fidgeting can result in significant
differences in energy usage, which correlated closely with levels of obesity.

"Overweight people have a tendency to sit, while lean ones have trouble
holding still and spend two hours more a day on their feet, pacing around and
fidgeting, researchers are reporting in findings published today.

"The difference translates into about 350 calories a day, enough to produce a
weight loss of 30 to 40 pounds in one year without trips to the gym - if only
heavy people could act more restless, like thin ones."

....

"The director of the study, Dr. James Levine, an endocrinologist and
nutritionist at the Mayo Clinic, said the findings offered hope to overweight
people, suggesting that relatively simple and painless changes in their daily
behavior, like making an effort to walk more and ride less, could help control
weight."

Source: <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/28/health/28weight.html>

I picked this one because it's the NY Times and Science, but there are
numerous other sources available via Google.

~~~
DanBC
Yes.

A number of studies have shown that overweight people can make a difference
just by walking around their home a bit more, and doing things in a more
active way. For example, instead of sitting down to watch TV they could stand
and do some ironing while watching tv. And then, when standing and ironing
they can bounce a bit. Many of these seemingly trivial actions build into more
exercise and better weight loss.

------
kephra
I wonder, that no one gave a coders point of view to walking here.

I don't own a car for nearly 25 years. I'm a programmer for more than 35
years, and of course, I got a car with 18. But this first VW Golf told me a
lesson, that driving a car and coding is incompatible. I crashed that car
twice, after hacking through the night shift at a customer, driving home over
fatigued. My second and last car was a BMW2002ti, it was fun, but hard to
maintain. And I realized: I do not need a car!

Unlike other self employed, I do not need to carry heavy tools and equipment
to serve my customer. And they pay for train and taxi cab, so I don't need a
car to go to work. This was 25 years ago, when computer modems started to
become brick size and cheap. Now I'm just 100ms away from my shop in
Nashville, while sitting in Bremen Germany. A programmer does not need a car.
No car could get me faster to work than the internet.

But a programmer needs a walk. Walking is like resting, for someone who sits
in front of a computer while work. So I walk to buy my food, and I often just
walk the imaginary dog. Walking to the lake, to my boat or to the boats house,
just to relax, is one of my methods to attack difficult problems. My eyes can
wander around, and legs move by them self, and my mind can drift around the
problem, or even better about something completely different. I'll make a
coffee, when I'm home, and often sit down immediately to code with much better
productivity, than before the walk, when I was blocked. Walking is a way to
get me into flow.

I'm currently living in the subs of a major German City. We have good public
transport in Bremen, good bike lanes, and I'm faster to nearly anyplace in
town, if I take the train, compared to car. But I also lived in the rural.
Think about you have to carry your food, and your dogs food yourself over a
distance of 5km/3miles, and suddenly a Pepsi becomes a luxury. Not owning a
car for 25 years changed a lot of my life, not only when it comes to food, or
when I comes to fitness. But most important when it comes to social life.
Walking my neighborhood, to buy food, to relax, to talk with over the fence or
in shop, is that part of my social life, where I can get contact with "normal"
people. People who are not programmers, or belong to my peer group of friends
from school, or to my yacht club.

I'm living in a cheap area, because I'm self employed, and reducing monthly
cost, increases the runway. I'm not shy talking to a junky on the street. Well
I have long hairs, beard and a hoodie also. The kids on the street greet me in
the 'right' way to show respect. I helped people moving in, and often stay for
a short barbecue or grill in neighbors gardens on my way home. Its important
for a community that there is life outside the walls. That neighbors watch
each other, especially in the cheaper areas. My ghetto is a good one. E.g. we
have a new neighbor since January. An 82 year old lady from California, who
came back to Germany because of health (insurance), and because she ran out of
money. I saw her first when it was freezing cold, and she was standing there,
in her plain white thin clothes in the supermarket. Half of the flats of my
U-block here are rented out to Wohnungshilfe, a department of social welfare
who have flats, for those who are in need, and can not find a flat on the
normal market. Those could be people coming from jail, or in this case a
bankrupt woman from California. It took less than 3 hours, to get her some
warm clothes, a bed and warm blankets, and some furniture. I visit here
regular, because our supermarket that is a mile away has no penut butter.

I own a small parcel in San Antioco, a Sardian island, and the people there
have a special tradition called Passagiata. Every day after lunch, they walk
the main street, up and down, again and again. Greet each other, talk a bit,
drink a coffee or smoke a cigarette.

This kind of Mediterranean art of life is utterly lost in most modern cities.
A suburb where people no longer walk, and talk, lost its soul and became a
zombie of a town.

