WE'RE READY TO WALK
But Where Are The Sidewalks?
STORY BY SARAH LANSDALE AND AMY HAGEDORN

More and more people across the country and in our own backyard are ready to change their behavior; they are turning to public transportation; they are dusting off their bicycles; they are even ready to lace up their sneakers and walk to work, to the store, to school, and anywhere else.

A national movement is developing to bring back sidewalks. Where did they go? While it’s true that there are many cities, towns and villages where sidewalks have deteriorated and need to be improved, there are many areas where they were never built at all.

Now the issue is coming up in cities across North America, and a number of studies are being done to create policies and guidelines for building more sidewalks. Some suburban areas are starting to see campaigns for sidewalk building as well. We think it’s time for Long Islanders also to think about this important amenity—one we’re so accustomed to doing without.

The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that about one-third of Americans do not have sidewalks where they live. We suspect the figure on Long Island is much higher. And these days, our dependence on the car to move from place to place really hits us where it hurts—the pocketbook.

But even if we didn’t see a big financial incentive in walking more and driving less, there’d be a number of important reasons to want more sidewalks in our lives. Sidewalks are our connection to community life. Being able to walk centers a community, and being able to walk from our homes to other points such as downtown shopping, friends, school, library, post office, etc. provides a sense of place, pride, and community values.

It’s about equality
Sidewalks represent important issues of equality. Recently a New York Times reporter interviewed Enrique Penalosa, the former mayor of Bogota, Columbia, who is a well known champion of enlightened urban design. He said “In developing-world cities, the majority of people don’t have cars, so I will say, when you construct a good sidewalk, you are constructing democracy. A sidewalk is a symbol of equality… The 20th century was a horrible detour in the evolution of the human habitat. We were building much more for cars’ mobility than children’s happiness…
There are many suburbs where there are no sidewalks, which is a very bad sign of a lack of respect for human dignity. People don’t even question it.”

The Safety Factor
Sidewalks mean safety, a separation between the car’s domain—the street—and the human. Without sidewalks, life for kids is less safe and more limited. When children can’t walk safely to school or walk to see a friend or walk to a park together, they are stuck at home, especially if biking is also unsafe. Who wants less active kids as we watch the obesity rate rise?

Not that parents benefit from the auto culture, either. How many mothers like having their days framed by child ferrying schedules—taking their kids to school, sports, parks, malls, friends’ homes?

Life on the other end of the spectrum—that of the senior citizen—is even more limited by lack of safe walking. Senior citizens are the only growing population segment on Long Island, but we have virtually no accommodation for them.

Or, what if we’re among the many Long Islanders who can’t afford to own, insure and fuel a car? Those numbers, too, are on the rise.

More walking and less driving also directly connects with other big issues of the day: reducing pollution, improving the environment, minimizing our personal carbon footprints.
Would we, in fact, walk more if we had a positive rather than hostile walking environment? The U.S. Department of Transportation researched this in 2002 and concluded that yes, people would walk more. The increase projected was real but not dramatic. However, that was years before the price of gasoline started its rise, giving us much more of an incentive. We’re seeing more bicycles on the road, increased public transit ridership, and if that’s any indication of changing behaviors, then we think that more sidewalks would mean more walkers.

But an essential question remains: in many of our Long Island neighborhoods, what would we walk to?

Suburban sprawl by definition involves huge residential developments with no shopping or public gathering places. It’s a giant legacy of the unplanned development that has characterized Long Island.

Even if you live in a strictly residential neighborhood and sidewalks were built, could you walk to a park, a church, a library or a friend’s house? Would you encourage your kids to walk with a buddy to a playground? If you’re a mother with a baby, would you walk with a stroller with other mothers? Would you walk the dog, or consider getting a dog?

The sidewalk question is actually something of a chicken-or-egg issue. If we don’t have a sidewalk system, we don’t walk. If no one walks, then local shopping and public meeting places remain out of reach, because there’s no apparent need. If we don’t walk, we don’t meet our neighbors and don’t form relationships.

Depending on our cars for everything has stunted our way of living and thinking. Now we have new incentives to re-imagine how we want to live. What can be done?
Community patterns are not set in stone, though they may seem like it. Our villages and towns typically have funds set aside for neighborhood improvements—things like parks, safety concerns, sidewalks. It’s a question of priorities. Though sometimes you can’t tell on Long Island; policies, practices and codes are meant to be responsive to public interest and will.

Here are a few thoughts on what you can do:
• Check out www.walkscore.com. You can see how walkable your neighborhood is.
• Do your own walkability audit at www.sustainableli.org/support.html#walkabilityaudit
•Get your neighbors together to explore and promote interest in sidewalks.
• Contact your local government officials: Invite them for a walk.
• Contact the chamber of commerce and merchants.
• Enlist planning organizations.
• Talk to your town planning board, architectural review board or committee.
• If you’re buying a home, make sidewalks a priority.
• Enlist developers who want to build in your area and present the need as a negotiating tool.
• Start a petition.
In short, get involved and get your community walking.

Guest columnists Amy Hagedorn, president, board of directors and Sarah Lansdale, executive director, Sustainable Long Island