Over the years, during breaks from school, vacations, etc., I have joined the gym at the hotel across from the RenCen (it's gone through several brand changes - is it still the Courtyard? Can't remember), which is a really good gym with a beautiful view from the treadmills of the river and Canada, and would walk there from our house in Corktown - a mile or 2 door to door. Drivers would ALWAYS look at me curiously, like, "What is THAT? Oh, a pedestrian." Every once in a while someone would stop and ask me if I was OK, like maybe my car broke down somewhere.
Same thing here in Columbus, too. We're a city that suffers from major urban sprawl with a terribly poor public transportation system. The only public transit is the underfunded and limited route bus service. Yes, you could take the bus to get anywhere in town - you'll just have to drive to a park 'n ride first, then transfer twice.
If you don't have a car here, you can't get anywhere. And everyone is always on the phone or texting while they drive. Talking on the phone isn't so bad to me - but the text messaging folks scare the hell out of me.
did you see the story about the guy who was just killed last week crossing woodward in a wheelchair?insane, i tell ya. i used to be such a calm, easygoing driver and then i moved here. metro-detroit drivers are most definitely among the nation's most careless and irritable. i am scared for my wife's, my son's and my own life & health almost everyday. the only way to not go crazy is to do your best to put it out of your mind. but i still get irritated seeing all the stupid things people do behind the wheel as they're zooming in and out of traffic, always 15mph over the limit.
That is just like someone from the city, coming out here to the suburbs, dialing a phone and almost killing someone.
You city people.
It is true how pedestrian un-friendly the area is and how ridiculous the public transportation system is here. We have the automotive companies to thank for that. Also I'll blame them for the flailing price of my house.
And here I was, thinking I'm the only one who doesn't get the whole 'texting' thing. Hell, I barely the use the cell phone I have to call people. I'm with you, I'd rather have people send me messenger pigeons than talk on the phone...
The problem should be solved by the insurance co's and lawyers. I haven't re-read autoinsurance policy lately, but if there's not a clause in their already, auto insurer's should had a clause indemnifying themselves against accidents caused by operator gross negligence.
Sure maybe to keep it 'fair' they'll still have to cover the damage to the other guy, but for your own car/injuries, if your text messaging/what ever other negligence can be proven to have caused the accident - then your SOL and have to foot the bill for your own bills.
How do we prove it? Sure, we'll have to suppoeona some cell phone records and check time stamps ... but if there is a text message sent within a few minutes of the alleged accident time, guilty. Oh what's that, somebody could have been stopped when they sent the text message, and then pulled out in traffic ... yeah, that could be a problem with this plan ... well, we'll have to work out those details ... but I'm sure the insurance co's and lawyers can figure it out ...
Interesting organization: http://www.detroittransit.org/
I can't even tell you how thrilled I'd be with a train running on Woodward.
I was just about to complain about the insanely inept public transportation system of Detroit/Metro Detroit and how awesome a train running on Woodward would be, when I scrolled down and read Melissa's comments. It's so true though, as a metropolitan area, we really suck in the public trans. area. I think both the city and suburbs would benefit immensely
(economically and socially) from a complete overhaul. I nearly passed out with excitement when I saw a rendering in the newspaper a year or two ago, of an elevated express train that would run from Pontiac to Detroit down Woodward, SWEET!
Thinking of taking the kid for a ride on the People Mover this weekend. Told a Mom at the park that yesterday and she said (with a worried look) "ooooohh....it smells like pee in there...." I was like, you should have smelled some of those Muni stations, I can take it. I am psuedo-urban mother, hear me roar!
I have been reading your blog for awhile. I live in Sunnyvale but was born in Ann Arbor so I feel like I get everything you talk about. I haven't left a comment before but when you mentioned seeing your grandfather in Adrian I about freaked. My moms family is from Adrian. I have never known someone else who knew someone from there. Very cool!
You guys keep your big city texting on the east side of the state. We don't want any trouble here in Grand Rapids.
As far as public transportation in Detroit goes, there was a better system. And GM sabotaged it. What's the name of that documentary again?
Totally. We moved to Detroit from LA (LA!), and I was in shock at the bad driving and total disregard for pedestrians. Very telling. I stop at all those little crosswalks in Royal Oak for people waiting to cross. And people honk behind me, all pissed off. THEMS THE BREAKS PEOPLE. I'm not in such a hurry to get my venti nonfat halfcaf mochaccino with an extra shot of asshole that I disregard others' personal safety. But that's just me, I guess.
I'm going to start walking to the zoo a couple times a week with my wee toddler, and I am already planning a route that does not require me to walk on Woodward. Woodward is the street of death.
Also, amen on the texting. I haven't had my cell phone turned on for 6 months, and haven't missed it for one minute.
driving culture is tough when you want to be a pedestrian. most towns have been planned only to accommodate people caring to walk a few blocks within their respective neighborhoods. It's sad.
I live in Chicago and haven't owned a car in 8 years and love it. I can't afford to buy a house or condo in the city but would prefer to keep the quality of life I have here sans car.
Even in New York, where pedestrians have mob rule, no one is safe. Bikes run red lights at 35 miles per hour; looking both ways is serious business.
Just yesterday I came across the scene of an accident in midtown where a car had hit a motorcycle, and the motorcyclist had flown off his bike, taking out three pedestrians on his descent.
I wonder which one of them was texting.
It's downright frightening to drive lately.
Why I assume that other drivers will behave competently on the road I cannot say.
Denial?
Here in DC, two women were killed a few months ago while crossing the street legally in a crosswalk. They were run over by a Metro bus.
Three days later, another Metro bus hit and killed another pedestrian.
It is scary that in a place as pedestrian-friendly as DC, people can get killed obeying the law.
We moan enough in London about the (Victorian) public transport system, but I guess our moans aren't even justified when it comes to some US cities provision. I lived in LA briefly (in the pre-Metro days) and I abhorred having to drive everywhere... I guess I'm spoilt, I'm from Venezia originally, where the pedestrian absolutely rules and everything is built human scale... apart from the rats 
This reminds me of my family friend (friend of parents, old-time hippy), telling me he used to get upset about people driving and talking on their cell phones and he'd be about to yell at them when he noticed the joint in his own hand and thought- hmmm, maybe I shouldn't talk.
Ha.
I am a hard-core texter, mostly because it's more to the point, and I am no fan of talking on the phone. Also, I have exceptionally funny friends who can make me laugh out loud with three words. So it works.
But I wouldn't do it when I was putting myself or someone else in peril. That just seems odd. I don't need to tell my friend Eric that I just saw a squirrel attack a cat or ask my roommate if she needs anything from the store if I could injure someone in the process.
Also, I use transit to get to work and back, and Vancouver's system is no great shakes, either. And this for a city committed to being "green"! A city with lots of in-city parkland and walker/bikers! Stupid transit. Errgh.
When I lived in LA, I would often just walk if my destination was less than three miles away and I wasn't planning to carry something really heavy in the process. I would ALWAYS get a look of alarm from the drivers going past (or not going past as the gridlock was terrible) and some would even lock their doors in alarm. I am a white, non-threatening-looking woman, but they acted as if I was casually carrying a machete.
hahaha... you can't avoid the cell-while-driving, Dutch... it will get you eventually. I used to be so angry at people who would talk on their cell phones while driving... then I moved to LA and when you're stuck in traffic going about 5 MPH it doesn't seem like that big a deal... and now of course I drive 75 on the freeway and talk on my phone all the time. sigh. You're right though, it is a stupid thing to do... yet addictive, like most stupid things.
Do you have a picture of the exploded donut? I bet she made a tiny hole in it, filled it with Pruno 151, and waited for the gases of fermentation to burst the walls of their cakey prison.
It sounds like Baton Rouge could be Detroit's baby sister in this sense. We have virtually no public transportation system, no bike lanes, and no sidewalks. To be anything other than a driver here is to take your life into your own hands. And every single blessed driver is talking on the phone or texting the whole freaking time. Not to mention that no one here pays a lick of attention to little things like traffic signals or road signs.
It really makes me miss Pittsburgh.
cars are the main reason i can't seriously consider moving back to michigan.
I have to say, being able to walk everywhere in San Francisco is absolutely the best thing about having moved to the city. Not that I'm rubbing it in or anything, but it's been a very welcome surprise, one I didn't really think about when considering the pros of moving here. I rarely see the interior of my car. I used to love walking in London too, but most of all I used to love taking the bus and the tube, and falling in love with someone different in the seat opposite me every day, and then seeing our future go up in flames when they got out a few stops later. You can't do that in a car. At least, it's far more romantic on public transport.
People walk and text too, though, and it hurts like a bitch when they crash into you. So it's not like San Francisco is devoid of its own oblivious text-messaging idiots. At least they just say "sorry, did I hurt your aura?" though, instead of "I oughta have bitch-slapped you."
This was basically the story of my life. After plowing into the side of a pickup truck that happened to turn left in front of me while I was going straight through a green light, then having a car come at me perpendicular to oncoming traffic on a highway and plow me into a median, I had given up on driving. But even in Austin which is supposed to be the green/hippy/happy land of Texas you're constantly honked at and not seen. It's insane. I do feel safest on the bus. Even though I know that the people outside the bus aren't that safe...
My mother was ticketed for jaywalking on some Detroit street back in the 1960's. I can't imagine that the Detroit police have written another jaywalking ticket since then.
well, first of all, i am feeling your pain on the 'kid in the backseat and the unending wailing like she is being tortured' thing. i often will call her dad just so he can enjoy the noise as well.
new york has a law that requires handsfree driving, and folks here *who like to show you how special and sophisticated and trendy they are* all wear their ginormous blinky ear kabob microphone thingies everywhere- i feel like we are in a weird star trek tng episode sometimes. or they have the blue tooth in the car over the speakers. they are saying "look!! i have more money than you!! i am better than you!! go to hell!!" it is effin lala land here, i swear.
i find texting so freakin annoying- i am such an old woman like that. it takes me four times as long to text something as it would to just leave a gd voicemail or actually speak to the person. i never got into the IM thing either. you crazy kids with your technology and your carpal thumbs!!
finally, i am so embarrassed to admit that we drive nearly everywhere, and i prefer it that way. new york city has argueably one of the best public transportation systems in the world and i used it faithfully until we moved back here to eastern queens- now i am too spoiled to wait for a crowded bus or subway to try and wrangle a toddler and whatever kid-related crap and then haul back whatever we had picked up during the errand. i suppose i could walk more errands, but when i think about how long that would take and how short on time i always seem to be to begin with, i'd rather jump in the car and get where i need to go and back. the way she cries in the car? i can only imagine the screaming on a bus or train- at least in my car i am the only one suffering. and yes, reducing my carbon footprint is clearly a work in progress.
You know, if I could just figure out how to text while riding my scooter...
I can't think of anything to say that isn't about how much I love Portland for being so pedestrian and bike friendly.
I am figuring that we can allocate a good $50K worth of property value to the walking-to-everything factor alone here in downtown Austin. It's a major plus, along with always going against the flow of traffic when we do have to drive. I hate traffic also.
At least the girl you almost hit was jaywalking, rather than fully legit. :o)
I'm in Austin but most of my extended family lives in Detroit or the Metro area. I've driven using their vehicles and actually felt like they drive better than they do down here.
However, Austin is full of new drivers, new to the city drivers, and no one knows how to merge onto I-35. The roads are poorly planned and in horrible shape. We have more potholes than Detroit and don't even have as much freezing weather!
Austin is also home to the very bus system that hit a bicyclist, killing him dead and hit a parked car on two separate occasions, all while I was riding the bus. I got a vehicle soon after!
Ug. Don't get me started on texting!
Well, if all goes well in Ann Arbor then maybe soon we'll be able to take light rail to Whitmore Lake and Howell and text about it in safety.
Michigan is seriously the craziest place I have ever lived as far as drivers go.
Ypsilanti is home to midnight jaywalkers, who think nothing of standing on the centerline, waiting to cross. It is also the home of people trying to run me off the road (maybe they were texting?) while biking.
People always hurry across crosswalks, and I now know why: you never know when someone is going to decide that stop light is a suggestion and mow you down.
Hate, hate hate cars and love that aspect to living in NYC. However, if it makes you all feel any better, the pedestrian-only lifestyle does mean that you are constantly schlepping. Heavy things. Usually in the rain, snow, or extreme heat. In uncomfortable shoes. So many times I've thought - anywhere else in the country, I would have shoved this into a heated/airconditioned car and I wouldn't be freezing/shvitzing and my feet would not feel like they're about to fall off.
People in NYC are very, very, very serious about the amount of storage a stroller has to offer, because we carry home our groceries and need to be able to fit an entire order in the storage bin and on little hooks on the handle.
Not to mention the killer cabs. They'll get you if you aren't on top of your game.
So there are downsides.
I live in Adelaide, Australia and it's horrible being a pedestrian here too. It's a small and well laid-out city, which should be perfect for public-transport, riding and walking, but there are so many cheap carparks and it takes less than 20 minutes to get anywhere by car, that people don't factor in time for anything to slow them down and get really road-rage-y when pedestrians hold them up, even when they have right-of-way.
This all means less pedestrians, which means it's less safe for them, and the whole cycle self-perpetuates. We had a report comissioned a couple of years ago that said if we decresed parking, there'd be more people around and the city would be more vibrant, but nothing came of it, because the car is king here too.
At least it's illegal here to use your phone while driving!
It's ironic that in the bigger sprawling cities like Melbourne and Sydney, which have way more traffic, it's actually safer for pedestrians, because motorists expect to get held up somehow anyway, so don't mind waiting.
shocking. all those words strung up together and everybody is worried about driving/not driving, pedestrians vs cars.
is *nobody* else deeply disturbed by the following words: "This morning as we drove around the suburbs looking for something to buy Wood for mother's day..."
to use (some of my favorite of) your wifes words, sweet fancy jesus! the suburbs! first regular trips to walmart, now this? easy now dutch, you might turn into a yuppie in hiding one of these days if you're not careful.
on the other hand, i'm glad that you, too, can be a hypocrite. and that nobody got hurt in any of those crosswalk scenarios. i know too many people who have not fared well/ my brother was hit by a city bus in the suburbs of washington DC, and i know 2 new york bike commuters that lost the tangle to bit delivery trucks. horrible. drialing - driving and dialing issa no good. cut that shit out.
ii was wondering if cell phone GPS is dangerous in the same way if you're driving.
OMG! merseydotes, check my comment up one. same thing happened to my brother when we was about 10. he was crossing leagally in a xwalk in rockville and got hit by a metro bus. he was wearing a leather bomber jacket that took most of the impact and he was fine except for a sprained arm. the bus driver however, had to be ambulanced to the hospital. she nearly had a heart attack when she saw that she hit him.
Suburban Minneapolis/St. Paul is all about the car too. It's kind of frustrating. At least we have a pretty extensive network of trails so that when I take DD out for a walk I can do so in peace. In my single days, I lived right in Mpls. and it was pretty walk-friendly (in the summer...), but once I did get ploughed over by someone riding a bike on the sidewalk, instead of in the street, where they are supposed to ride. Ouch! I got the biggest bruise of my life, plus it happened right in front of a crowded coffee shop w/lots of outdoor tables. Talk about embarrassing...
This struck a chord with me - I'm from Seattle, where pedestrians rule, and now live in Edinburgh. There's a somewhat strange dichotomy here: the Scottish people are genuinely warm and gracious to a fault, but once behind the (anonymous) wheel, they have absolutely no compunction about nearly running you down with their car if you are in the roadway in a marked crosswalk. I have had to scuttle out of the way many times while firmly grasping the hands of my 2 and 4 year olds, the sight of which does not even slightly arrest the oncoming vehicle. I guess there's just a long-established roadway pecking order here and not even the sight of small children will earn you a get across the road free card. Small price to pay to live in this lovely city, but it still catches me off guard when it happens.
I don't know how to text, and I don't know how to drive, and I'll take e-mail over the telephone anyday.
great post! i would write "lol" but that might be a little to texty. i know what you mean. we live in hamtramck and i drive out to auburn hills 4 days/week for work. got to love the price of gas.
Hmm..
that description of a sticky howling Juney was vaguely familiar. :- )
Interesting how in just this comment stream alone, there are three of us from Austin (and other multiples from other cities) and nobody shares the same feelings on the matter. I think it goes to show there are crappy drivers everywhere, but pockets of goodness too (I have never been nearly hit while walking). The worse the roads are for traffic management, the more irritable people get. The more time people have to waste in their cars driving, the more they try to multi-task. The bigger and more growing a city is, the more lost/confused/new drivers there are, compounding the problem of bad driving. I certainly cannot see text messaging while driving, but before that, it was jacking w/the radio, handling issues in the back seat, eating lunch/breakfast, putting on makeup. If it isn't one activity, its another.
I hate the phone, too. Matt and I wish no one would ever call us, which is a very bad thing because people do call us and we don't pick up the phone because we are doing something more important like eating dinner, watching a movie, having our own coversation, etc. etc. Then we don't return the calls because Matt doesn't like checking messages and I keep forgetting the password on our digital phone. Then, when we do listen to a message we still don't return the call because we hate the phone and wish no one would ever call us. And on and on it goes. I'm considering reviving the art of letter writing as an alternative so we don't loose all of our friends.
My Detroit issue these days is whether and where I can ride my bike in this city. While I have had many, many pleasant interactions with both pedestrians and cars (I make insane amounts of eye contact, wave, and smile at every person I pass), riding can be scary around here, mostly because a couple super-aggressive drivers and the texty, talky drivers. Yesterday on a ride up to Ferndale, a car purposely got over in the far right lane (where I was riding) sped up to about 60 mph, and laid on his horn as he blew past me. I'm a good road rider, but that was really scary and totally pointless unless his point was to startle me off my bike. I got on the sidewalk after that, which is something I never do.
Car is the king of the Metro Detroit roadways, and don't you forget it, I guess.
I'm from here and fucking HATE HATE HATE the fact we have to drive everywhere. Although some of our neighbors have taken to riding the Woodward Avenue bus to the Wayne State/Cultural Center area. We live less than 2 miles from, say, the playroom in Ferndale, but walking there would involve crossing Eight Mile with my most beloved child in a stroller, and that's just NOT going to happen. Especially now with the bridge under construction so people are even more insane than usual.
Compouding the problem is that many of us Detroit drivers took our driver's ed from the Detroit Public School system, which in my day consisted of driving around a little track in the back of Henry Ford High School, going no more than 5 mph and never getting out on the road. Suffice it to say that after I had three accidents in my first year of driving, my parents sprung for commerical instruction when it was my brother's turn three years later.
Ooo! Do the Mennonites in MI say things like, "I'm going to ride bike" instead of "I'm going to ride my bike"? One of our best friends used to live in Lancaster, PA and there was quite a lot of talk about riding bike.
Donutville USA - talk about a blast from the past! I grew up in that neighborhood! My all-time favorite Halloween was in the fourth grade when my older sister and her friends took me and my friends trick-or-treating. We went to Donutville USA and they gave each of us TWO donuts in a wax paper bag, THEN we got up the courage to go to the Kenilworth Pub! If our parents had found out they would have killed us! Our dad always inspected every single piece of candy before we were allowed to eat anything, and all the gum was thrown in the trash! Anyway, the waitress in the pub was super nice to us and gave us each a huge tube of SPREES! We couldn't believe our good luck! We moved to Livonia the following year and life became a lot more boring after that. I moved to Ann Arbor as soon as humanly possible and now I live just north of Chicago. I love the fact that I never have to drive. Our Jetta sits in the garage most of the time. Our brakes have rusted to the point that they've had to be replaced - the lady at the dealership told us that we needed to drive more! The car is seven years old and it only has 35000 miles! We love that we can take the "L' as well as the train downtown and that everything we need is within walking distance - beach, restaurants, library, post-office, grocery store, schools, golf course, you-name-it. We're moving to Palo Alto and I'm totally depressed about having to drive again. All of the houses within walking distance to downtown are totally out of our price range and I want to cry. Our house here in Evanston is in such an awesome location that it sold in two days and went way over asking, but that won't get us a comparable house in Palo Alto. I hate the thought the having to go back to driving. On the bright side, at least the drivers in California seem to give pedestrians the right of way.
browsing your archives...I don't know if you'll see this, but three things:
1) I am a Newfoundlander living in the South; I was used to walking everywhere. I got to where I would call myself the last white pedestrian in America. People would pull over when I was walking to see if my car had broken down or if I was looking for sex. I finally had to get a dog to serve as my "beard".
2) Having grown up in a place where drivers stop the minute they see you perpendicular to a curb, I thought crossing the street in America was taking your life in your hands. Then I went to Ireland. The Celtic Tiger is a maniac at the wheel. They are mowing each other down in droves.
3) Ditto on the Irish for texting.
4) Wait, there's a fourth thing. I recently went to a posh restaurant where I had no choice but to utilize the parking valet. I gave the guy a 20$ tip because of the Shame. In general, I try to protect childless people from the interior of my van. They can't handle the truth.
Your blog makes me laugh SO hard - thank you! (Love the surly dutch girl!)
Seriously funny blog. I have to admit with shame that, while I have never gotten it and loathed people who text while driving, the other night I sent my husband the "i'm on my way" text (to prove that I am aware of his valuable time.) Then looked up with horror at the realization that I have become one of them! (I haven't and won't since; of course, but does that really excuse it??)
I mastered the art of "defensive walking" when I lived in Rome for a year. The number one secret: always, always make eye contact with the driver. In Rome, that makes the whole experience into a silent transaction with the driver: "I see you, you see me, I'm about to cross here, let's time this right so neither of us has to stop." It works great, and maybe because Rome's controlled chaos made perfect sense to me, I *loved* living there. Now that I live in Minneapolis, the eye contact translates to "Hey, asshole, I see you, and if you fucking hit me I'm going to sue your suburban ass."
I lived in Minneapolis for two years without a car, and it was nigh on impossible—even though I lived right downtown. I've got a car now, but damnit, I let pedestrians have their right of way, even though I catch hell for it all the time. I tell you, I can't wait until I move to the Seattle area this summer—I want to be in a pedestrian-friendly place again!
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