SCPL Online NonFiction Book Club discussion

On page 28, Melody describes walking as “more than transportation, it’s an experience.” Do you find walking in and around your neighbourhood helps you feel more attached to it? Have you ever checked out your street’s score on walkscore.com? What was your street’s rating?

~Kathryn

I definitely agree with Melody that walking can increase your sense of place attachment. As she said, you notice a lot more when you're moving at a walking speed. Not to mention...I will be the first to admit that I'm not the most social with my neighbours. But, when you're walking along the street, it's almost expected that you will smile and say hello to your neighbours as they pass by.

I just checked my own neighbourhood, and its walk score is only 22, which means it is basically totally car-dependent. That being said, I mentioned in a previous comment that we have a conservation area within walking distance, which is great for hiking (and friendly greetings to other hikers), and we have a plaza with chain stores, coffee shops, restaurants and a movie theatre that's about a 10 minute walk away. I remember saying when we moved in almost 3 years ago, "how great that we can walk to a restaurant or a movie for a date"...and we have yet to do so. I think this book has inspired me to get on that (as soon as it's just a bit warmer out!)

Thanks for your comments Diana! I am glad the book is inspiring you to get out and explore your neighbourhood more. It is interesting how you do notice more things when you are walking. Every time I am out, I will see little details I never noticed before, like a small store or a hidden garden.

I looked up my score and my street ranks a 93, a walker's paradise! Definitely one of the benefits of city living.

~Kathryn

I agree walking is more than a transportation experience. You can quickly get your bearings of a city walking around and it gives you a chance to meet your neighbours which is nice, I am pretty introverted otherwise.

My current street ranks a 0, so not much walking around here.

Valerie

Hi Valerie! I think you hit on something important when you say walking is more than just transportation. Do you think most people walk for the destination or just for the sake walking?

~Kathryn

Walking definitely makes you feel more attached to a neighbourhood. I worked the Census last year and I still can't drive through my neighbourhood without bringing up all kinds of memories of the time I spent pounding the pavement.

I think the comment about walking being an experience is important. Even places that aren't "walkable" can probably be walked if you have no destination. If you need to get somewhere or do things though then the destination is important. I've done both. Walking for the sake of walking can be very relaxing.

That is a great observation, Heidi! Your comment about remembering your past experience with the census reminded me of the quotation Melody uses in this chapter:

“More precious, though, are the unpublished maps we make ourselves, of our city, our place, our daily world, our life; those maps of our private world we use every day” – Alexander McCall Smith (p. 29.)

When we walk somewhere, we own it in a way (to get philosophical.) It becomes part of our own unique history.

~Kathryn

Yes! That is absolutely it. Also if you've ever had the experience of taking a new friend or a loved one back to the neighbourhood where you grew up, you realize you aren't trying to show them what it looks like now. You are trying to show them the places that hold the memories that molded you into the person you've become.

That is an excellent point! I have never thought about it that way, but you are right. Whenever I visit my hometown, where things are different from how I remember them, it is jarring. The same way a house I used to live in will always stay the way I remember it. I can never picture it with someone else living there.

~Kathryn

I'm late on this discussion. My current score is 52. It's fairly walkable in my area.

After reading the comments, I looked up the town I grew up in -- only 44! Shocker! That is the place I felt safest to walk. I walked or biked there daily to or from school and work. Is safety perception part of the score?

Judy, if you look at the methodology that WalkScore uses crime is definitely part of the metric.
https://www.walkscore.com/methodology...
I agree that feeling safe is important. I think they are a little more focused on convenience though. You may feel safe in the boondocks but it's not going to be very convenient to walk to go get milk if the closest store is ten kms away.

Yes, I understood it to be convenience as well. But you're right that safety should be an important factor in terms of walkability.

~Kathryn