Maybe we are selling ourselves short here in Nashville. Hillsboro Pike can seem amazingly long when sitting through multiple failed stop lights.
But, Green Hills is surprisingly walkable. In regards to distance, it is a fairly dense business corridor. In relation to amusing window shopping, there is room for improvement. Most businesses have doors set back through a dense parking lot making popping in or seeing the goods tricky from the roadside walkways.
When speaking directly of sidewalks in Green Hills - they are present for the most part - but severely neglected.
From Parnassus Books to Bread & Company it is 0.29 miles - roughly a 9 minute walk.
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| Try traversing this with a stroller |
Nine minutes of walking that could be quicker if not for the very poor condition of the sidewalks. Eventually, we just took to the street to keep from the scores of start and stops required to walk on broken pavement with too numerous to count inexplicable curbs.
Shade Parade questions why a business district would want to dissuade pedestrians?
Why do Nashvillians settle for vegetating in their car rather than demanding better walkability? What got me thinking about this subject was the quote below from a reporter in NYC about personal changes made during the recent severe cold snap.
'Usually on a Tuesday, I walk a mile and a half to the gym. I took a cab. Usually I walk three and a half miles through the park to the office. I took a subway'.
When you read a quote like this, Shade Parade wonders if we are selling ourselves short here in Nashville when it comes to deciding what is walkable.
Sources:
http://nhpr.org/post/across-country-people-have-been-caught-cold
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