Walking in the Rain
On Sunday, October 24th, I went for a walk because it was nice day out. It started raining and ended up become wetter than a fish’s sponge in a hurricane but I ended up having an extremely nice walk despite the odds.
I started walking in late afternoon, and it almost immediately started pooring but I decided to stick it out for two reasons. Reason number one being, I needed to clear my head and walks are extremely important to my mental health and reason number two being I hadn’t gone for a walk this week for class.The amount of people I saw in crisis is astounding. I saw a lady in a pink raincoat that ended up dead sprinting through the rain, I saw a child who was hopping through the puddles while their parents where trying to get their attention, and an old couple sharing an umbrella. I ended up spending my time brainstorming themes for the field guide.
While it was raining sideways and felt like the the world was ending, I had the realization that the appeal of walking is your lack of control is a statistical improbability. I mean, I am standing he rain, getting drenched, when I thought I was going to be a peaceful uneventful Sunday walk ended up being the worst part of my day. I had no control over how that walk was going to go and I had accepted that and then the worst part of my day didn't seem so bad. Accepting that walking in Chicago is unpredictable makes the experience worth it every single walk, rain or shine, every time.
I decided that these three quotes encapsulated that feeling.
“Cities have always offered anonymity, variety, and conjunction, qualities best basked in by walking” (Solnit)
“They disregard me” (Turnbull)
“But to lose oneself in a city- as one loses oneself in a forest- that calls for quite a different schooling” (Solnit)
A walkable block is a block that has good width so multiple groups of people can walk on both directions of the sidewalk without having to change the way they walk. An example of an unwalkable sidewalk is the sidewalk on West Belden Avenue. The sidewalk is too narrow and I constantly have to move to the side when couples walk past. It is also not well lit, so at night it is not uncommon to feel uncomfortable walking. It also floods when it rains and constantly has construction done on it so most of the time one side of the sidewalk is closed. A perfect example of a walkable sidewalk, however, is West Fullerton Avenue. West Fullerton does an amazing job of the sidewalk having enough space for everyone. Every morning when I walk on West Fullerton, I never have to worry about having enough space on the sidewalk and I never have to move to the side for couples because they have enough room. It is also extremely well lit so at night people feel safe. This lighting is extremely important to the walkability of sidewalks and streets. If people do not feel safe on city streets they will not walk them and I can guarantee that the people walking on West Fullerton feel safe. Overall walkable blocks are important when it comes to maintaining a city with large populations and helps with tourism because people are more likely to visit a walkable city that has beautiful blocks. (250)
