Drivers are idiots? Fat, or something? OK, I guess. But the tone of this article seems pretty off base to me.

Yeah, “people” drive too much. But nothing irks like a self-satisfied person casting scorn on others. Sure, I guess you are our better in terms of walking, but I am sure there are some drivers who are your superior in terms of eating locally, or being attentive to the children in the community, or volunteering, etc. And it wouldn’t seem to do, at all, for those people to questions, say, your radio-listening choices.

Honestly. You think that people who are walking are somehow less influnced by “talk radio jockey incapable of balance or symmetry fills the unfurnished commuter’s mind with the day’s permitted blather”?

You choose to take your stand on the issue of driving. Good for you. But that’s harldy the last place to take that stand. And it’s not fair to insinuate that anyone who takes the stand elsewhere is a mindless, McDonald’s-scarfing, anti-social idiot. Why, I happen to know some VERY good people who eat at McDonalds and drive cars and listen to Howard Stern. Hardly any of them have gaping maws. Some of them, I would even venture to guess, are better people than I am, all things considered.

Imagine that.

And you hit the nail on the head indeed about the vacuum hose applied to the conscience. Solvitur ambulando, baby. Literally.

In England there are areas that now stop the school buses a half mile from the school and send the kids out to walk the rest of the distance. Part of an effort to deal with rising obesity among children.

My grandfather once advised me to marry a man who would walk in the rain. I was in my youth perplexed by that advice but I understand it now.

“What do you drink for breakfast? Your German beer traveled quite a bit further to get to Bierstube than my orange juice did to get to my kitchen.”

Relevance FAIL. Dissent from Peters’ dissent is much more palatable when you address something more substantive than a minor point that he makes about orange juice, particularly given that his actual statement is pregnant with very specific limits. Moreover, and more important, good beer is far more fundamental to civilization than orange juice.

Like I said, just breathing in fresh air makes it all worth while. Here, I can walk to the local market in less time than it takes some neighbors to get out of the house, start the car, de-ice it, etc, and then park, shut off the engine, get out and walk to the front door. Talk about wasted energy.

Thanks for another great essay. I always look forward to reading my daily dose of FPR. Prof Peters never fails to brighten my day.

http://www.qfinance.com/macroeconomic-issues-viewpoints/viewpoint-richard-a-werner

And about this walkable neighborhood. It has a lot going for it, but it irks me mightily that the much-praised street of local businesses that I live near is 90% frou-frou yuppified shops that have nothing to do with daily needs. There’s a public library, thank God, a drugstore, and a Trader Joe’s, which I guess I’m supposed to adore (okay, it’s convenient for a lot of things, but stupid in so many ways). But otherwise, I’m not doing a lot of walking to buy daily supplies of gourmet cookware, designer dresses, interior design items and high-end audio equipment. Like, would it be so bad to have a hardware store on the street? But I fear that most of the Priuses in the ‘hood would still drive to Home Despot for that. Sigh.

I have to grant that this neighborhood was a great place to raise kids. Neighbors out on the sidewalk, some wonderful parks and a lake in walking distance, and that aforementioned public library. But now they’re teens and, yep, need a car to get a lot of the places they go. They still walk a lot, and take the bus, but their stuff isn’t cozily circumscribed by our walkable neighborhood any more.