14 years ago my husband and I were settling into a very small Bavarian village (approximately 5000 inhabitants) in Germany.
I didn’t know the term ‘Walkability’ back then, but the concept was a focal feature of our life in different ways (as it has been thru many chapters of life).
As we settled in for our first Winter there, we realized our gratitude to have chosen a rental property in a village that had sidewalks (also great quality and well maintained), two grocery stores (both within 1 minute walk from our home), at least a few bakeries and cafes, a bank, kindergarten, hotel inn and more.
The village felt remote indeed with its size and rural surroundings, but walkable proximity to services was superb.
I say we were grateful to discover this aspect of our new community as, early on, we had observed that many (if not most) of the villages in this rural region were not walkable and also lacked one other thing our new home village had: a train station.
Our first winter there, we delighted in the ability to walk from our home, thru part of the village to the train station and head to one of the nearby cities (Nürnberg was about 45 minutes away and Regensburg ~30 minutes by train). For our leisure days in the city and social nights ‘on the town’ this was a game changer as we could leave the car at home and enjoy our experiences and rail rides.
Over time, as I began to work as a freelance photographer locally, I got a great taste of the rail commuter experience, using the train to get to clients in the cities- which were also popular location requests for family photoshoots (which often would fill my weekend schedule and for which I always used the train to commute to).
Renting a home in a village gave us the space and quiet we enjoy in our home setting and we also were fortunate to experience ‘community’ in that little village.
Being in touch with many other families in other villages of the region, we learned about the isolation and difficulty some people endured due to the car dependence required when living in a non-walkable village with no public transportation (much the same on suburbs of similar description), a potentially serious problem when, for example, a couple shares one vehicle or multiple dependents rely on one family member to chauffeur them everywhere.
The availability and ease of train travel and proximity to nearby urban centres was truly transformative for our experience living in Bavaria.
–Annika