Transforming into a pedestrian

(editor's note: thanks to @stephrouth and @wpcwalks, a wider readership might be directed here - for thoughts on pedestrians, planning, equity, safety, sprawl -- scroll to below the quilt)

Just got back from a loverly - gasp - walk around my neighborhood. Some weeks ago I realized there are two parks I don't know within two miles of here, and ergo wanted to go check 'em out. (Picture above: KB and the traffic-light-bag in search of the strange hidden temple @ Coba ruins, Yucatan, Mexico. It's the only recent shot I could find of me on foot.)

And a nice gentle wander sounded just perfect this evening, as I've been doing very little all day, save learning a bit about food poisoning. (Ben had family in town for the last few days, and we celebrated by going out for seafood last night. Final score: Food 1, Kristin 0.)

So - it's been a day of drinking liquids and not eating solid food; as I was getting antsy around my one-lady nest, I thought of being sick as a kid - when Mom would admonish us to just go take a walk ("but I'm siiick, but I'm tiiired") - and as soon as we stopped griping, we'd perk right up with the magical mom-prescribed fresh air.

A walk. Stroll up the rare-to-grid-focused-NE-Portland curved streets, peep at parks and interesting houses, dogs and cats and folks out for their run/walk/stroll. Quite nice, really - to explore at a relaxed pace and nose around new areas. (Didn't really follow this, at all - but these were the key points: an approximation of home and two parks. 49th and Frazer Park actually connect - but only for non-auto traffic; Normandale is accessible everywhere save the stadium)

I haven't been riding, really, save commuting - since that Multnomah Falls ride. (My bruise finally went away after week three; week four meant I could sleep on that side.) But! Other exciting happenings, yes - Ben and I have brewed two beers, I had friends out from Wisconsin for falafelry, good foods, and hiking ... after which we encountered a small lumberjacking project when the big pine in Ben's backyard split in half (the other half is still up; this is now mostly chopped into firewood for 2014, when it might actually be dry) -

I don't have pictures from our hike (which is why we missed the tree explosion-event) - Brendon, Sarah, Ben and I hiked Hamilton Mountain, one of my Gorge favorites. The visitors were treated to the full suite of Gorge offerings: sun, amazing clouds, gusting wind, light rain, drenching rain, hail (on us) and snow (on the ground). A good eight miles.

Coming back to the title of this post (which is how I advise folks to get the best yield out of drivers when crossing a street - jump off your bike and TA-DA! A pedestrian!) - another event of the past month was a five-day trip back to Boise - where most of my immediate family still lives, including my mom, who is an amazing patchwork quilter, and helped me think through the details on this, a tablecloth for Ben that's also my first real patchwork project -

Now, I know, I know - Portland, you have the best this, the most that - bicycle network and public transportation and yes yes ... Boise provides a striking contrast.

The main street in my Mom's neighborhood is only slightly less wide than SE Belmont. That's for two lanes of car travel, plus on-street parking, posted speed limit of 25 mph? No wonder people race down the (house-lined, non-arterial, no-stop-lights, stop-signs-only, children-running-across-the-street-to-chase-the-dog/ball/wind) drive at 40 mph...

...so there's the sprawl (no urban growth boundary here!), the wide streets, the non-zero numbers of cyclists killed in Idaho's capital in the last two years. (And before anyone asks, "Idaho stops" had nothing to do with any of those deaths.) It's a city designed with the base expectation of Autos For All - the bus system tries hard, perhaps, but stops running early and doesn't run seven days a week. Sidewalks randomly end, as do designated-or-otherwise bike routes.

Now, my (younger by 1.5 years) brother Ian lives in a funny sprawled part of the city, in an apartment with another "multi-abled" guy. (Ian's preferred term, as he doesn't like disabled, differently abled, etc. - his formal diagnosis is autism/pervasive developmental delay-not otherwise specified, although he identifies as Asperger's and ADHD) Ian takes the city bus for transportation; is learning to ride a bike, although whether/not that would be a feasible option for transportation is unclear. There aren't sidewalks on all of the streets in his area, and he lives a block from a five-lane road with a 45-mph speed limit (and that's just posted...). (Below - looking east on State Street at Pierce Park, photocredit Google images)

Ian - who at 6'3" and 180lbs? is a hard guy to miss - has been hit by cars twice in the past year or so. One crash sent him to the ER - cuts/scrapes/bruises where he landed, plus staples in his head. (Thankfully, and as is legally required, the driver stopped). The other incident knocked him down in the crosswalk and gave him some road rash (the driver, who had just finished an illegal turn, running a light, or both, didn't seem to notice and zoomed off - some other witnesses checked on Ian).

...needless to say, this makes me crazy, and angry, as does the experience of trying to explain "vulnerable road user" to people in Boise and having them respond "but drivers can't tell that he's autistic" and then patiently explain to me that Ian needs to be more defensive. (But... but... but... he's. a. pedestrian. Nevermind the invisible autism...)

I spent some amount of time while "home" trying to imagine what Boise could do to be a different place - to be less all-auto, to make it so that walking wasn't a dangerous decision, that riding a bike wasn't a fatal choice. Given the current design/planning of the city, and political climate in Idaho and the state's economy, I got... nowhere.

And when I flew back to Portland, descending through the ubiquitous rainclouds, I was so. glad. to be home. Self-important, irony-overdosed, soggy Portlandistan - where it's still not entirely safe to walk and ride, but it's maybe better here than elsewhere. (Thanks to the work of electeds, individuals, and advocacy groups - including the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, the Community Cycling Center, and others...)

Now, we're not at Vision Zero - we're not at no deaths, period. Which means we're not at win - but, in contrast to Boise, and many other places throughout the states - Portland's in a great position to model good behavior/planning/legislation. (And if/when I can get Ian to move here - or to Seattle, where our sister is - I'll call that a win, since I don't see Boise meeting his mobility needs anytime soon. Plus, then we can go to Blazer games.)

Ahem. Climbing down from the soapbox and/or platform of wandering narrative... plans for the weekend may include some things pedestrian, some things wheeled - we shall see.

For now, my victory of the evening came in the form of toast - and that's enough for me.