I guess I am a shitty person. When driving around Fresno and I see somebody walking down the sidewalk or waiting at the light, I judge. I think “What is the story with that dude? Why is he walking?”
Seriously though, where are they going? What has happened to them that they have to walk? You’re in Fresno, DAMMIT! We do NOT walk TO things unless we can’t find a parking spot. We. Suck.
I’m not talking about people who walk their dogs or kids going to school or the person obviously exercising or even a probably homeless guy. The person I am talking about is the regular looking adult just waiting to cross, pretty much, any major intersection in town.
And hey, I’ve walked to or from a thing or two. I’ve bucked the Fresno norms.
Once I walked back home after dropping off my car to get repaired. It was weird. It felt like every car was looking at me and thinking “What a sad little guy. He must not have many friends.”
We gotta change that (or, at least, I have to). We gotta change the way we think of people walking around Fresno. We gotta walk more. No matter how weird it feels.
Related music to listen to while reading this post:
Since I don’t have a car or a job right now, I have been walking a whole lot. I love to walk. It’s cheaper than Uber and less scary (for me) than riding my bike.
This is what we should all be doing!!
I agree. I just moved back from SF, where I walked several miles a day, and I feel weird walking here. I have noticed new trails in Clovis for bikers and pedestrians that are pretty cool though. I think it’s a start.
I lived in San Francisco for15 months after retiring and I walked all over that city. No one looked oddly at me. Here inFresno, ha! It’s not very safe to walk as the sidewalks give way to dirt or worse yet, nothing on which to walk. Cars don’t give walkers the right of way even when the walker is in the crosswalk and they have the light. So, I drive everywhere.
I stumble pub to pub Downtown to Tower and back fairly often.. I’m not even homeless. However not gonna happen so much with this current weather.
This is how I felt when I started commuting to work by bike. It was awkward, especially in work clothes. I think dressing like a hipster actually is the key. People will look at you and believe it’s ok because “hipsters” Are perceived to do the unconventional.
My mom had a yard sale and so did the house four doors down. Nobody walked to the other yard sale. It was insane. Every single person drove four houses down the block to look at the yard sale. It was a nice day outside! Nobody walked!!