A commentary by Loretta Sardone
I live in metropolitan Denver, Colorado and have been primarily using walkability in my daily regimen as if I were a youngster where my mindset and energy required are second nature. It is for these health reasons that I recommend it. This part of the county is very western in mentality and cities are planned out with great spaces, being spread out. All has been planned for the automobile and petrol. We do not have the history of the smaller towns or villages, except in minor eastern seaboard states, reminiscent of older, colonial days, or if you live in Manhattan. For walkers, getting around the metro area requires dependence on mass transit, specifically rail, which was introduced about 20 years ago, mostly for suburbanite commuters using it at peak hours for the employed to downtown. The regular bus schedules had by then offered more routes and more options. But, we still suffer from the lack of timeliness of the transfer, and since COVID-19, some routes have been pulled altogether.
The ability to get the mind, psychology, and body up and moving to a further destination and back is in part, but most important, about independence, accomplishment and a freedom that is mostly of a personal nature.
Walking for errands and other excursions in a spread-out city in the western US, requires a mindset, especially for the older crowd – a mindset not easily found anymore. I can never expound enough on the health benefits of walking, especially briskly, to run errands, in this very spread out – large metropolitan area. Though, I can get around all of it, even if it takes me several hours of riding and walking – lots of walking. The ability to get the mind, psychology, and body up and moving to a further destination and back is in part, but most important, about independence, accomplishment and a freedom that is mostly of a personal nature. A personal democracy, if you will.
“…walkability is part of our physicality – our health mechanism, if you will – to a healthier and longer life.“
In the metro Denver area, there are good initiatives for the community gardens, usually under the governance of the specific municipality that is operating it. But, it is more of a grassroots movement, as one has to travel great distances to get to the community garden. There is a bigger movement for backyard vegetable gardens that has taken off, as we are big on, front and backyards in this country. However, we are seeing more and more community garden movements – across the US. – some excellent ones in the Oakland/Bay area of California as well as Chicago, IL.
There is a great initiative to move towards cleaner and alternative fuels for buses, and of course, automobiles; more and more bicycle paths installed on streets all over the metro area; and greater safety measures employed at intersections, rail stops, etc. that work to accommodate the pedestrian and bicyclist. However, the greater majority of drivers today are not safe drivers, and one has to constantly be aware of all traffic, anywhere one is walking.
In the US, we will be reliant on vehicles, even if they are electric or hydrogen-fueled. That being said, walkability is part of our physicality – our health mechanism, if you will – to a healthier and longer life. I recall a conversation some time ago, with an ancient, Near East scholar of the peoples and their culture of the time, “…they ate sparingly (of lentil porridge, and such), though frequently, meaning no large meals. Large meals were for special occasions, meaning a few times a year. And they walked a lot, mostly everywhere…they were leaner, and healthier…”
So, speaking as a mature adult; for health, for psychological well-being, for a piece of personal democracy and independence, walkable cities and just basic walkability is a piece of the puzzle of surmounting aging and its perceived sense of limitations, along with breaking away from an imposed stigma of “running around” mentality, using time and money for better things and new vistas.
This commentary is by Loretta Sardone (2024) Contact: divertingwinds@gmail.com