City Dwellers/Ppl that walk everywhere/bus riders - Page 5

[earthgirl]

Just a little weather-induced rant

So we've had a couple of snowstorms here. This means that there's less room in the streets for cars. This also means that some people don't shovel their sidewalks, but the streets are almost always clear. Oh, and sometimes a sidewalk seems clear, but then I realize someone has just piled up a bunch of snow at the curb and I can't get our stroller over it. All this to say that I often end up walking in the street after a snow storm. So the other day I'm running errands w/ DD. I had THREE drivers give me dirty looks when they were going around me. : It was so annoying! I mean, we're all in this together, people! And sure, it's my fault that people didn't clear their sidewalks. AND, like I really prefer walking in the street while pushing a stroller. Gah! Some people.

OK, had to get that out. Back to the joys of pedestrian living.

[sugareemoma]

This tribes for me! I commute an hour on the bus while babywearing each morning to school and each afternoon on my way home. I walk to the store (a mile a way) and I walk my dog while babywearing. My dd is 16 mo and loves to point at things and ask 'what?' I explain to her what things are. When she is not asking about things I point out things we walk by. I don't have many friends so when I am not busy with school work I like to walk my dog, there is a nice nature preserve a mile and a half from my house so we walk there each weekend. My DD loves to look at all the different birds there, she has even seen deer, foxes and rabbits. All this and technically we live in a 'city'.
Do most of you gals babywear or do you push strollers down the sidewalks?

[jocelyndale]

Originally Posted by sugareemoma

Do most of you gals babywear or do you push strollers down the sidewalks?

It depends on the day.

Sometimes I wear DS, sometimes I take the stroller. The advantage of the stroller is that I can pack a lunch and blanket or go shopping. If I leave the stroller at home, we can take some more scenic walks or hop on the bus more easily.

If we're just going to one of the two very close by parks, I sometimes let him walk or take the wagon.

I'd like to buy bicycle helmets soon. I think we'd have a lot of fun with the bike.

[luv_my_babes]

Hey everyone,
I don't know if I 'belong" here... anyways..

DH and I are carfree by choice. We live in Toronto, which has an excellent (well not all the time ) public transit system comprised of subways, streetcars and buses.
We are lucky that we can walk to several grocery stores/markets, so I don't have to rely on the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) for mundane tasks like groceries

To keep the kids settled and well behaved we pack snacks, we read books and they are each allowed to bring one SMALL toy with them. However, they are usually very well behaved, having been riding public transit their entire lives.

I know many people probably look at me like I am crazy for not wanting a car. My family certainly does! I just can't justify polluting the earth with all the emmissions, especially when the TTC is litterally at my doorstep. Secondly, I am a HORRIBLE driver. Also, I can't imagine paying all that money for a car -- insurance, gas, maintenence, car loan payments... forget it! I'd rather buy my TTC pass every month

[sugareemoma]

Originally Posted by jocelyndale

It depends on the day.

Sometimes I wear DS, sometimes I take the stroller. The advantage of the stroller is that I can pack a lunch and blanket or go shopping. I

I usually pack a blanket and book in my backpack/diaper bag along with some of those reusable shopping totes. Today I was walking back from the store with my DD if FWCC and carrying 3 large tote bags full of groceries. The bags were way to heavy and I had to stop to readjust them and when I was stopped someone that drove by shouted 'get a job and buy a car'. I was soo outraged, the anger made me amped that lugging the groceries the rest of the way home seemed like a cakewalk!

[rumi]

Hi, looks like I am a little late finding this tribe. But we are gleefully carfree, even though it isn't always easy. Maybe soon we will be biking ... till then we are just walking to most places, as well as catching bus / train for out of town trips.

To answer the OP questions:

So how do you guys do it?

We've never done it any other way. We ask for rides only for certain activities like out-of-town trips with our playgroup or homeschool group. Sometimes if the weather is really bad and task is urgent I will call a taxi but this is rare. All the things we need to do regularly, incl library, grocery store, thrift store, other stores, bank and even the hospital are within 1 or 1.5 miles. Mostly we walk, or dd bikes (with training wheels) while I walk alongside her.

Our county bus system is pretty spotty but we use it, hoping that service will increase. We have buses & trains to the nearby big cities to do other fun and interesting things - timings are not great, but we keep using it and hope for more frequency.

Do you meander when you walk (look for nature stuff, name license plates, sing songs)?

We don't meander on purpose. We do sing songs, tell stories, plan "surprises" and play word games though. Some are
- rhyming word game
- last letter game (I say a word and you say a word that begins with the last letter)

best help for a tired walker (and believe me dd can get "tired of walking" even after 5 minutes sometimes!) is food. Whenever we make muffins we call them our "walking snack" so muffins are associated with taking walks. I need to bring more snacks into this category

Favorite routes?

Usually have no choice, but prefer routes off the main roads. Sometimes dd has preferred routes where she can safely walk on the curb or where there are more hills to run up and down.

Do you go as quickly as you can?

yes, but this means as quickly as dd can, not as quickly as *I* could have walked alone. Practically I think it is about 25 minutes / mile. Rushing is always counter productive so in case we are in a hurry I try my best to keep dd happy and gently remind her about the thing we are hurrying to.

What's farthest you've walked one way?

Probably 1.5 miles. We have walked even farther (~3 miles one-way) but that was when dd was either in sling or stroller.

Though I see everyone around me happily owning and operating automobiles, I feel like having a car would be more work, stress - on top of that dealing with the stresses of carseats, and the rush-rush are definite minuses for me.

Re: trains and buses - dd loves them and always has. That certainly makes me overcome inertia in going to catch them. And since we are both slightly prone to carsickness, bus and train are great options, esp if we plan to eat en route.

[rumi]

Also, I can't imagine paying all that money for a car -- insurance, gas, maintenence, car loan payments... forget it! I'd rather buy my TTC pass every month

:

[HarperRose]

So I am HUGELY irritated!!!

It seemed like EVERYONE was out to hit us today! The kids ride their bikes while I walk now and 3 different times today someone wasn't paying any attention that there were PEOPLE in the crosswalk!!!

And then on our way home one guy stopped but the moron behind him honked and then stared at us as we walked down the sidewalk. So rude!

[earthgirl]

Originally Posted by Justthatgirl

So I am HUGELY irritated!!!

It seemed like EVERYONE was out to hit us today! The kids ride their bikes while I walk now and 3 different times today someone wasn't paying any attention that there were PEOPLE in the crosswalk!!!

And then on our way home one guy stopped but the moron behind him honked and then stared at us as we walked down the sidewalk. So rude!

You know, the longer I go without a car the more I start to really get annoyed by drivers. I can't tell you how many dirty looks I get for crossing the street IN THE CROSSWALK!! And where I live it's actually state law that drivers are supposed to stop anytime there is a pedestrian in the crosswalk. It's not enforced, though. Anyway, I think these incidents are pretty indicative of how much of a car culture we've really become.

I'm sorry it was rough for you today.

[HarperRose]

Well, our walking has taken a detour! I severely sprained or broke my ankle last night. No walking for now.

[earthgirl]

Originally Posted by Justthatgirl

Well, our walking has taken a detour! I severely sprained or broke my ankle last night. No walking for now.

Ouch! I hope you have a quick recovery!

[HarperRose]

Urgh. Feeling trapped and STUCK! Desperately need to get OUT. I'm sitting on my porch w/ the laptop and enjoying the cool, if not vaguely humid, air. I wish it would rain. I love the rain. I also wish I could WALK!

[Kidzaplenty]

[lucifugous]

wow I'm glad I found this tribe! Baby D and I are inside way too much but with the weather getting better we will be doing more and more. I wear her almost exclusively. We were handed down a Graco stroller (the one we can pop our carseat into... until she outgrows it anyway, which will be in about two minutes LoL) so sometimes I take that if I'm by myself and plan to get a large load of groceries, or if I need to take the carseat. We recently started using the I-Go car sharing program, I might not use it at all after DD is in a larger seat, but it's helped us get some bulk groceries and for me to get to a friend's shower that was way out in the burbs. We bus a ton and take the train occasionally. Sometimes I enjoy walking a few miles, and the shorter walks certainly add up over the course of a busy day, but we don't do real long walks because my right foot is... permanently damaged. My mom visited twice a week after D was born and now once a week. Sometimes we go out to do things (in her car) and sometimes I take it to do a little sprint, knocking out as many little errands as possible that would be bus-able but not all in one day let alone two hours. But lately we have just stayed at home or maybe gone out to eat (& we will hit up the zoo tomorrow!), and I've been able to do everything we need independently. That feels good! DP wants to get a car, though. When I start working again and we will potentially be able to afford it I will have to stall him :P

[HarperRose]

So how is everyone doing?

[lucifugous]

Originally Posted by Justthatgirl

So how is everyone doing?

I'm wondering how to comfortably tote around a huge diaper bag (+ often groceries) w/ baby on my back!

[waiting2bemommy]

Originally Posted by lucifugous

I'm wondering how to comfortably tote around a huge diaper bag (+ often groceries) w/ baby on my back!

you have to get a backpack and wear it on your front. it looks completely ridiculous, but my philospshy is that when i signed up for parenthood, I signed up for 18 years of regularly making a total fool of myself.

Just found this tribe...we aare carless, er, er carFREE (yeah!! I think???). I just got hired at a new job 2.5 miles away so we will see how it goes when I start there. We have to walk about 3/4 mile to the bus and then the bus drops us off a 9 minute walk from the job (a daycare). So I guess we belong here.

Public transportation in Virginia Beach is a doozy. the buses only run once an hour, from 6-6. There is no public transportation at all after 6 PM. Which means we have to walk or cab it. And taking a cab is expensive and dangerous since there is no carseat for ds.

[Sometime]

Originally Posted by waiting2bemommy

Just found this tribe...we aare carless, er, er carFREE (yeah!! I think???). I just got hired at a new job 2.5 miles away so we will see how it goes when I start there. We have to walk about 3/4 mile to the bus and then the bus drops us off a 9 minute walk from the job (a daycare). So I guess we belong here.

Public transportation in Virginia Beach is a doozy. the buses only run once an hour, from 6-6. There is no public transportation at all after 6 PM. Which means we have to walk or cab it. And taking a cab is expensive and dangerous since there is no carseat for ds.

Most of my aunts and uncles live in Virginia Beach, which is definitely oriented toward cars. However, it is nice and flat, so maybe a bike? Just a thought since your son is over a year and could go on a bike at this point. If you're only going 2.5 miles, it might be a nice alternative.

[boigrrrlwonder]

I just wanted to pop in and say hi. I'm so happy that it's finally spring. We're car-free. Public transit here is really expensive. I won't bike in the winter when it gets below about 30 degrees with the kiddo (though I'm thinking about buying a trailer so that next winter it might be an option....). I just felt REALLY isolated this winter. I'm looking forward to summer again, where walking is nice and jumping on my bike again!

[mama516/419]

Just saw this thread and thought I would stop by and be in awe at how awrsome you all are . We live in a 1 car house hold but its mainly Dhs car , he works "on site" so he would never beable to take public tansport , though he does car pool ( by picking up the guys who dont drive) I guess he feels sypathetic since his wife doesnt drive . I grew up in Boston and never felt the need to get a drivers licience - tho now somedays I think I should get it for the heck of it . When it was just DD and I we walked all the time all over the place , but when the baby was born we tended to wait for an other adult - I hated the thought of being out nubered away from home . Now that the kids are older tho I am ready to treak this summer . We are lucky to like on a street with a wooded path to the play ground and an local ice cream parlor only ten minutes away .
We are planning to learn the bus schedual this summer to . I hope I will eventuly get it down as well as I know the T ( bostons subway)
Peace