The misery of being a pedestrian in old-time, and modern Phoenix


Walk with me. If you're like most of the people that I know, here in suburban Phoenix, you don't walk very often. Most of the people that I know have cars, with air conditioning, and comfortable seats, and when they park they search for the closest spot to a building, to minimize how much walking they have to do. And it really does make sense, why walk when you can ride, especially in a city that routinely gets temperatures of over 100 degrees?

There are wonderful places to walk, along the beach, in a leafy glade, but Phoenix has never been one of those places. Walking has always been miserable in Phoenix, in spite of how idyllic it might look in old photos. Since we're walking in our imagination, I'm going to ask you to slow down, because I'm using a cane.

Every once in a while I hear someone say that Phoenix was ruined by cars (I've been known to say that myself) but it's not really true - Phoenix has been a successful city because of cars. We take them so much for granted that it's hard for some people to even imagine being without one.

But just imagine pulling up to that man with the cane in the photo at the top of this post who is trying to get on the trolley with a car. It could be a modern car, with air conditioning, which would really blow his mind, or it could just be a "horseless carriage" which would pick him up from exactly where he's standing, and drop him off in front of wherever he's going. He wouldn't have to worry about walking from where the street car stopped, or walking back to find that the street car isn't there yet, and he would have to stand and wait.

Most of the images that I see of people walking "in the good old days" make it look very appealing, and that's probably because most of us have never been without a car. When we slow down for a school zone, fifteen miles an hour feels like crawling, but an average person only walks about two miles and hour - and athletic person walks a little faster, but not much. And all I can say is that it must have been amazing to be able to sit in a car and go twenty-five miles an hour, or faster, directly to your destination.

Thank you for walking with me, but next time could we ride?
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Comments

  1. CelesteMay 17, 2022 at 3:04 PM

    People do walk in Phoenix, just not in the summer. If they do try to walk (or hike, such as up Piestewa Peak) in the summer, they need to do it very early in the morning or late in the evening. The best exercise in the summer, in my opinion, is swimming! Hey Brad, where were you for almost a month? Missed ya!

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