101 comments on How Walkable is Your Neighborhood?
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101 comments on How Walkable is Your Neighborhood?
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I live in the boondocks and was going to say much the same thing. The thing I find interesting is that the headings are things for which I, basically, have no interest. Heck, I not only don't go to movies but we stopped getting broadcast TV years ago.
Here is what I would include on the list:
How much of your food is grown locally or by yourself?
Why do you have to go to the grocery store so often? Don't you keep food on hand?
How much of your own power do you produce?
How much of your water do you produce?
How much of you heat and cooling do you produce?
To me, these are far more important than whether you can walk to a restaurant.
As an aside, our mailbox is a 30 mile round trip but we only go for the mail a couple of times a week and then do other errands at the same time.
Todd
I imagine this was driven by recent demographics, which indicate that more people live in urban areas now than in rural. So from that perspective it makes sense. It may indeed help those who want or need to live "close in" to have a better life, and I don't have a quibble with that. I lived in some very large cities myself once upon a time, and they do have their attractions. I miss the variety of cuisine available in Seattle for example. But; my attitude now is that although a major city is a fun place to visit occasionally, I wouldn't want to live there anymore, if only because of the crowding and traffic. I like the freedom to step outside my woodshop and take a leak or bag a deer that happens to be walking by, without worrying about nosy neighbors. :) I like the freedom to dig a pond or fill one in, or cut a tree down without getting permission from some self-important "community committee". If I want to put up a building or tear one down, I just do it.
My POV may sound selfish to some, and perhaps it is. But until you've experienced this level of seclusion it's impossible to know how liberating it is. Not many folks that live this kind of life have a full time shrink. :) As Hank Jr. says: "Country folks can survive" :)
No man is an island
Rural density varies considerably, and you are apparently on the low end for even rural density if you can kill a deer (in season ?) with no one noticing.
Transportation is a greater issue for rural locations far from the nearest town, doctor, dentist, feed store & supply, school, etc.
Before my grandfather bought a farm close to town, he went to town every other Friday "if the weather was good", except around harvest time. Post-Peak Oil, travel in rural areas will be constrained, as will support services.
Exurban commuters, a significant % of the rural population in some areas, will likely disappear.
Alan
Alan, you're correct on all counts, but a little planning goes a long ways. And, yes in season :) I'll be looking for dove soon, yum! My little patch is inhabited by all kinds of critters besides deer. Fox, beaver, 'coon, 'possum, dillers, and so on, including the occsasional cottonmouth (had one in the garage this summer!). All the usual field&forest life found in NE MS. A regular zoo. :)
Btw, I love NO and the Gulf coast generally. We try to get down there every year or 2. Have some good friends down that way. I finally found a source for Abita beer up here. :)
Hey Gene,
I do all those things above except shooting the deer that wander up the small river (or is it large creek) by my house, and like I said I live in a small city of 60,000. I don't need a personal FF transportation device and the city gives me a library, winter recreation centre, art galleries (of a sort), a Playhouse, a railway and bus station for inter city travel, also many many social groups from a dalia growers association to a Hells angles club.
I've Lived in the boondocks and enjoyed it but wouldn't want to spend my life there, and anyway I can walk there in about 20 minutes:)
If we as a 'civilization' hadn't done time as much as we have in cars maybe we could have taken that time and those resources to make our living arrangements livable. This is where I think Glenn's article leads. Be nice if it took a swing past population control as well too ...
That sort of personal freedom of choice in lifestyles is one of the great things that makes this country as great as it is. And in large part what made that possible is personal cheap transportation - oil in other words. If, or when, that choice disappears we will have lost one of the things worth living for. I really hope we can find a way to avoid that loss.
So you guys with the grand ideas for electric, pocket size cold fusion generators, or just plain magic; and the talent to make them a reality; better get to work. No more time off. ;)
No problem living without oil all we have to do is go back to a preindustrial population, something we should have done by choice rather than have it forced upon us by circumstance. The problem lies in having an anchor that keeps one from being part of that solution.
There are many types of anchors and a walkable community can be one as can a quiet woodland dell. Personally I am betting on the small town a good garden and a tradeable skill or two.
Best wishes and keep those flints dry.;)
All of these things that you have mentioned are important when Peak Oil's effects become palpable. But remember (not just talking to you but to others) that the Walk Score is NOT a "Peak Oil Safety Indicator". It admits right up front that it's a service to help homebuyers find a community that is highly walkable. Thus, it is catering to people who want to live in a city and want to walk around to various large stores. It's not catering to people who necessarily want to be self-sufficient in a crisis situation.
Todd,
I think the Walkscore web site was not intended for people who are asking the questions you are asking. And if you already know the answers to the questions you ask, then Walkscore is irrelevant.
And ironically, I think that for those who do not know or care to ask the questions you ask, the site is equally irrelevant. Who cares about walking when there are two cars in the garage?
Maybe there's a third group who just want to confirm how "Safe" or "Screwed" they are. A quantitative scale by which to compare themselves with the rest of the country, like a credit rating or salary survey.