Sunday, Feb. 05, 2012

Here's a vote for walkable communities

I was born in 1961, at the tail end of the Baby Boom. According to Raleigh Planning Director Mitchell Silver, because my generation has been prosperous, we have a sense of entitlement, including the right to live within walking distance of shops, restaurants, movie theaters and other amenities.

In retirement, I certainly want that to be the case, but it's not because I feel entitled to live within walking distance of everything I need and want. No, in my case, it's simply that I'm not that big a fan of driving. Never have been, never will be, especially if I keep buying that muscle car known as the four-cylinder pickup. Also, in my golden years, I don't want to be one of those drivers I complain about now. Before you start, I have nothing against older people; indeed, I hope to be one of them some day. But I'm not too proud to concede that the day will come when my eyesight, reflexes, etc., will be too poor to drive.

In fact, my goal is to park my car, maybe even sell it, on the day I retire. And if Mr. Silver is right, I'll be able to do that because towns, through public and private investment, are building and restoring walkable communities.

The irony, of course, is that all small towns used to be walkable. In Smithfield, for example, it was once possible to live on, say, North Third Street and walk to the grocery store, drugstore, clothing shop and so on. But as it grew, Smithfield grew out, with companies like Walmart disdaining the confines of Market Street for the then-wide open spaces of Bright Leaf Boulevard.

Some people call that poor planning. I call it free markets, where retailers build where it suits them, knowing their customers will find them. In any event, based on the crowds at Walmart, its shoppers don't seem to mind having to drive to the store.

Still, I look forward to the day when I can walk around the corner to the market or across the street to the restaurant. It has to be better than an old man tooling around town in a pickup that's no faster than he is.