Walking in Cities (by David Keatts)

Cities just wouldn’t be possible without transportation. People need transportation so they can go to work and be paid, and then spend that money on goods and essentials. The United States relies on the automobile more than any other country. Over decades of use, the automobile has shaped our cities and our lives, affecting our roads and our schedules. Unfortunately, this lifestyle has a number of negative effects and is ultimately not sustainable in big cities such as Atlanta. Walking is a safer, healthier alternative that doesn’t pollute the atmosphere, or cost as much money, and it promotes city safety.

Walking is healthier and more environmentally friendly than gasoline powered vehicles. Avoiding unnecessary environment protects the environment from destruction and prevents air pollution from rising uncontrollable. Mexico City, Beijing, Cairo, Los Angeles, to name a few huge cities, are so heavily polluted with harmful air particles that they become smoggy after periods with no rainfall. (Yip) The EPA puts it best: “Biking or walking to your destination creates no pollution at all. And you’ll increase your fitness level at the same time.” (Your Car and Clean Air)

Walking is the simplest and has the fewest equity issues among the four modes of transportation. Public transportation costs some money and isn’t always reliably on time. Bike riding requires a bicycle, safety equipment, and a bike lock, all of which cost money. Driving an automobile is by far the most expensive even if one only rents a car due to high gas prices and maintenance costs. The risk of having an accident is also increased while bicycling or driving, which can result in repair fees, medical fees, increased insurance rates and wasted time. Walking has none of these issues, in addition to having indirect benefits such as healthiness and increasing public safety.

Walking would benefit city safety by providing more eyes upon the city. Jacob Jane writes about this effect in The Death and Life of Great American Cities, stating that “A well-used city street is apt to be a safe street. A deserted city street is apt to be unsafe.” (Jacobs part 1 pg 16) Holmes’ point is that fewer people will commit crimes on the street if they’re being watched by many strangers. Unfortunately, people don’t just idly watch streets all day to ensure their safety. Usually, the only people watching the street are those who are walking along it. Automobile drivers and bike riders don’t have the same effect because they spend less time looking at a given sidewalk and can’t as easily stop a criminal from doing something on the sidewalk. Walkers will often pay attention to their surroundings our of boredom, and will often stop a crime from happening if they’re in the presence of many walkers.

Some may argue that walking cannot realistically be a primary source of transportation because it is slower than driving an automobile, riding in a public bus, or riding a bike. Traveling to different cities and states can be quite difficult and time consuming without an automobile, and some people simply do not have time to walk everywhere. Walking definitely should not be the only mode of transportation outside of cities, but intercity transportation can still be done by walking. For instance, someone who lives in city suburbs could bike to a bus stop, take a bus to the city, and walk the rest of the way to their destination.

Cities require all of these modes of transportation to be successful. Unfortunately, our current primary mode of transportation, driving, is destroying our city and accelerating gas prices. As a society, we have to rely more upon walking.

Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House,

1961.

Yip, Maricela and Madl, Pierre. “Air Pollution in Mexico City” University of Salzburg. Web.

31 Aug 2011 <http://biophysics.sbg.ac.at/mexico/air.htm>

“Your Car and Clean Air: What YOU Can Do to Reduce Pollution” U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency. Web. 31 Aug 2011.

<http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/18-youdo.pdf>

David Keatts