Sarah Nemec-Nelson and I went from 2 cars to 1 almost 10 years ago, and it is has been a positive life change.

Sarah Nemec-Nelson and I went from 2 cars to 1 almost 10 years ago, and it is has been a positive life change.  Oh how I would like to continue and go to 0 (so difficult in Texas, though Austin downtown has improved in the last decade).  

This is an excellent essay on what we give up by being so car-centric.

Originally shared by Antonia Malchik

I imagine there are a lot of walkers in this network. Access to walking has ramifications for our health and sense of humanity. It's integral to our evolution. Yet we're losing it, especially in poorer areas of the country. "The End of Walking," a piece I wrote for Aeon.
http://aeon.co/magazine/society/step-by-step-americans-are-sacrificing-the-right-to-walk/

Comments

  1. Antonia MalchikAugust 26, 2015 at 3:16 PM

    Thank you, Roice Nelson! The more I dig into this, the more amazed I am at how hard it is to live in America without a car.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Roice NelsonAugust 26, 2015 at 3:37 PM

    Thank you Antonia Malchik for the awesome essay! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Antonia MalchikAugust 26, 2015 at 3:41 PM

    I thank the editors :)  They saw the potential and did a fabulous job on the editing and revision requests. And my writing group, all of whose members talked me off a ledge when I panicked before submitting it! Writing, like most other fields, is a community effort.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sean WalkerOctober 1, 2015 at 9:00 PM

    I've been running over the last year. I pay for my ex-wife's car, but I don't drive myself. Running extends my world somewhat, but not much. It's hard to carry things when you run. =D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Antonia MalchikOctober 2, 2015 at 9:41 AM

    Sean Walker I read Daniel Lieberman's book The Story of the Human Body while researching this piece. Are you familiar with his work? He's an evolutionary biologist and is really into running and is a longtime advocate of barefoot running, which he's done a lot of research on. His work is worth reading. Me, I can't stand running with or without carrying things ;)  I'm a strider, stroller, wanderer. Carrying things are for when I ride a bike!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sean WalkerOctober 2, 2015 at 9:57 AM

    I haven't read the Story of the Human Body, I will have a look at it - evolutionary biology is a fascinating, almost forensic, field of biology. 

    Regarding running, I used to hate it and all other forms of exercise. Things changed in my life recently (well i changed in my life recently lol) and I became very motivated to get into shape. Through a (Herculean) sustained act of will, I began running for 45 minute sessions, several times a week. After several months of it I came to start almost enjoying it. When Spring came and I began running outside I came to love it.

    I have heard of the bare foot 'minimalist' technique. It sort of scares me. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Antonia MalchikOctober 2, 2015 at 10:15 AM

    I think it's just that I love walking so much that running feels somewhat depressing, racing through what I want to be moving more slow-paced through (not super-slow, just walking pace). There are probably other factors that get in there -- I run sometimes because I want to be outside by myself in the morning, which is good in a way but also making "being outside by myself" just another thing to multitask.

    I know some people who swear by barefoot/minimalist running, and others who say it's seriously damaging. 

    Anyway, Lieberman's work is interesting and maybe someday I'll find the power to push myself through a Herculean act of sustained will. That is also when I might stop eating too many chocolate chip cookies every time a warm batch comes out of the oven.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sean WalkerOctober 2, 2015 at 10:29 AM

    Antonia Malchik another awesome thing about running is it makes the liberal consumption of chocolate chip cookies a guiltless epicurean act. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Antonia MalchikOctober 2, 2015 at 12:06 PM

    Sean Walker that's incentive I can get behind ;)

    ReplyDelete

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