Article Contributed on: 2/23/2007 4:46:16 PM
I'm not the only crazy carless person around. On Feb. 20 in the Daily Score blog from the Sightline Institute,
Alan Durning notes that today is the one-year anniversary of his
entire family going carless.
...Yep, that's right: Carless with kids. That's daring! OK, it doesn't sound like getting the kids to soccer games, etc. was easy or fun, but they managed.
As he recounted the benefits of this Seattle experience, Durning said, "We're more aware of our surroundings in our
walkshed. This is a practical benefit: we know what's nearby. It's also a plus in terms of mindfulness: I remember my son Peter calling on his cell phone from his first bike ride home along a particular route-a route we'd driven since his early childhood. Incredulous and dismayed, he exclaimed, 'Dad! There's a really big hill!' His tone of voice implied, 'Where did it come from?!' When you're strapped into the back of a moving car, hills are an abstraction, not a reality that you feel in your muscles."
...No kidding. I'm starting to appreciate that SE Boulder is mostly flat.
And I like that term of his, "walkshed." His sounds far more diverse than mine, but maybe I'll start documenting more about my own walkshed...
Congrats, Alan!