Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Who Cares About Pedestrians?

While every measure is taken to clean the roads for the drivers, look what the sidewalks are like. Of course, not only is walking out of the question (it always is, so what else is new?), but even waiting for the bus becomes a risky enterprise. You have to stand practically in the middle of the highway, praying that the speeding cars won't hit you.

And then people wonder why obesity is on the rise in a country where nobody gets a chance to walk anywhere but from their sofa to their garage. The municipal authorities don't even seem to consider the need to clean the sidewalks. Not even in places where responsible citizens who care enough about the environment not to buy a car per each family member routinely wait for public transportation.

Now I'll have to spend all day in my office with wet feet just because city officials don't consider anybody but the drivers worthy of their attention.

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2 comments:

Patrick said...

It's a sad comment (and a very depressing picture) of life in the Northern climates.

I'm not a rapid environmentalist my any means, but if we're serious about investing money (which all municipalities in NA do) in public transit infrastructure, then surely we should at least make it possible to actually use the public transit.

It would be interesting to see a photo of the sidewalks in the business district and around the malls. Somehow, I think the 'destinations' will be clear.

Clarissa said...

The campus sidewalks are clean, so that's good. As for the business district, I'd have to get there first, which is kind of hard with this amount of snow. :-)