Find Out Your Neighborhood's Walk Score

Opening day of the Millwood Farmers' Market was lots of fun. I especially like all the people walking from their homes to come to the market. Come to find out that www.walkscore.com rates Millwood as a great community for walkability (74 out of 100). My neighborhood on the other hand gets a lousy 5 out of 100 score. Must have to do with the lack of buses and businesses in proximity. Downtown Spokane gets a whopping 91 out of 100, a "walker's paradise" as they call it.

They've got some interesting interpretive material on why walking matters. One benefit they say is:

Increased social capital: Walking increases social capital by promoting face-to-face interaction with your neighbors. Studies have shown that for each 10 minutes a person spends in a daily car commute, time spent in community activities falls by 10 percent³.

I like the phrase, "social capital". It sums up a big part of our efforts that have been hard to put to words. Somehow it's about building generative relationships and friendships that lead to a better life and a better community.

One example of this for me, is while I'm out in the garden many people wander by and we get to talking, and more often than not I ask them if they want a tomato plant. The greenhouse is brimming with tomato plants, some with tomatoes already on the vine, so it's a natural thing to share them. I find that when we put ourselves in the way of other people, things happen; friendships are built, encouragement is received and given, trust is built, and on and on. When we don't put ourselves in the way of others, we lose out and the community loses out as well.

Comments

[Karen]

Having people walk by makes such a difference, doesn't it? Our neighborhood's walk score (thanks for the link!) is 68, but that's a bit misleading because we live near a huge hill, and there's not much walking going on up and down it.

This afternoon we put our bean teepees up (they're in the front yard), and the kids are so excited! They'll be terrific places to hide out and snack when the beans grow up them this summer, and the kids don't know that I stuck climbing nasturtium seeds in with the beans to give a bit of color as well.

I was just finishing up with some string and feeling quite pleased with all of it (the dug up yard, the kids' hard work, the thought of summer produce, the slightly tilted teepees made with sticks we collected this winter) when someone drove by up the hill in a brand new car -- dealer stickers still in the window -- and looked at us with an expression that said unmistakably that he found bean teepees instead of grass quite distasteful. It was a bit of a downer.

Now, had he been walking, would we have struck up a conversation? And would he have become a convert to veggies instead of lawn? Maybe not. But we can hope.

[nancy goodwin]

Karen,
Hooray for bean teepees!!! I think that's the coolest. Our teepees must be a lot smaller in circumference because I never thought of the kids being able to hide in there. I love your creativity with the nasturtiums.

Yes, in addition to no gas cost, walking breeds conversation. Our garden isn't in our front yard, but it's on our side yard which backs up to what's becoming a busy street. Since our fence along that street was knocked down by a drunk driver and we have yet to fix it, there are countless opportunities to talk w/ folks who ask, "What are you doing?" I have to admit though, sometimes I respond, "you'll have to ask my husband." Because sometimes I'm not sure what we're doing either!:-)

[Keith]

I've been painting outside. It's a bit different with painting. I'm just so self conscious. I don't have a wonderful tomato to show or give. Sometimes, I want to quit, and just say, "Look!" Lots of the time, I have a complete mess. Frequently, I try to hide. People invariably find me. It was boaters who nabbed me yesterday. Last weekend, it was at an isolated beach spot. The weekend before last, it was a bird sanctuary. For some, the community thing is easy. For me, honestly, I'm horribly shy almost to the point of illness. It all has to be *real*... whatever that means, then I feel okay.

The real part of outdoor painting is not knowing what's going to happen. At the bird sanctuary it really looked good. Yesterday wasn't so hot.

BTW, I went to take a gulp my gallon of water yesterday while painting, and accidentally gulped the Turpenol. That was horrible.