Monday, July 21, 2008
WalkBoston in the Globe
Hey, check it out! WalkBoston's Executive Director, Wendy Landman, was featured in the Boston Globe in Feet give the best, cheapest mileage yesterday!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Help Pass House Bill 4635
Please take action to help pass House Bill 4635, An Act Relative to Speed Limits. This bill would lower the prevailing speed limit from 30 to 25 mph on local roads in urbanized areas across Massachusetts. The text of the bill is provided at the bottom of this email.
With the escalation of gasoline prices and the emphasis on walking for good health more and more pedestrians are using their feet for transportation. When pedestrians, especially children and older people, are walking along the sidewalk or along the edge of the road when no sidewalk is available, the speed of passing traffic is important for maintaining safety. The difference of 5mph in the speed of passing cars is often the difference between a fatality or serious injury and a narrow escape.
The Massachusetts Highway Department, state legislators, local transportation officials, and community activists worked together to develop this legislation and have indicated their support for the changes in Chapter 90. We are hopeful that after many years of effort, 2008 will be the year that this important pedestrian safety measure becomes law.
Please call or write to your Representative and ask them to urge Representative Robert DeLeo, the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, to act favorably on this bill. To look up your local representative, go to http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php.
With the escalation of gasoline prices and the emphasis on walking for good health more and more pedestrians are using their feet for transportation. When pedestrians, especially children and older people, are walking along the sidewalk or along the edge of the road when no sidewalk is available, the speed of passing traffic is important for maintaining safety. The difference of 5mph in the speed of passing cars is often the difference between a fatality or serious injury and a narrow escape.
The Massachusetts Highway Department, state legislators, local transportation officials, and community activists worked together to develop this legislation and have indicated their support for the changes in Chapter 90. We are hopeful that after many years of effort, 2008 will be the year that this important pedestrian safety measure becomes law.
Please call or write to your Representative and ask them to urge Representative Robert DeLeo, the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, to act favorably on this bill. To look up your local representative, go to http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Summer walking in Boston
Because the WalkBoston office is right downtown, I've had a great opportunity to start exploring parts of Boston that I've been saying for years that I should check out.
Last night, a friend and I met up after work and meandered down to the water by way of Quincy Market, where we didn't manage to pass ourselves off as tourists ("You live here, are local?" a vendor asked us before offering to sell us overpriced dresses with a "locals' discount".) We walked down to the Harbor and then along the water up to the North End and back. I hadn't spent time in that area since the Big Dig got closed up and the Rose Kennedy Greenway was landscaped. For all the great fiasco that's been, I have to say, I'm sold on the change it's made to downtown Boston, connecting the city and the water.
There's also a great fountain you should be sure to check out, near the Aquarium, especially on a hot day if you're strolling with kids. I'm tempted to skip out of work early today and go get my feet wet, in fact.
Last night, a friend and I met up after work and meandered down to the water by way of Quincy Market, where we didn't manage to pass ourselves off as tourists ("You live here, are local?" a vendor asked us before offering to sell us overpriced dresses with a "locals' discount".) We walked down to the Harbor and then along the water up to the North End and back. I hadn't spent time in that area since the Big Dig got closed up and the Rose Kennedy Greenway was landscaped. For all the great fiasco that's been, I have to say, I'm sold on the change it's made to downtown Boston, connecting the city and the water.
There's also a great fountain you should be sure to check out, near the Aquarium, especially on a hot day if you're strolling with kids. I'm tempted to skip out of work early today and go get my feet wet, in fact.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
10,000 steps a day
How many steps do you take each day? Most people don't know the answer to this question, of course, because few of us take the time to count our steps on a daily basis. But this is a great reason to pick up a pedometer and find out.
I've been wearing a pedometer for about a week, now, and I'm surprised to find how, without even meaning to, I'm competing with myself to walk more than I would otherwise: If, toward the end of the day, I'm close to a big round number -- say I have 8,500 steps -- I'm motivated to try to round it out to 9,000 by walking around the house more in the evening, or even to get to 10,000 by going out for a little walk in my neighborhood.
The recommended number of steps a person should get per day is 10,000. Because I live in the city and don't have a car, I walk a lot, so I find that in the course of my average day, walking from my house to the T, the T to my office, around my office during the day and then back home, I get around 4,000 steps. By taking a short midmorning and midafternoon break to walk around my neighborhood for about 10 minutes each time, I push it up to 6,500. A single long walk at some point in the day then gets me over 10,000.
But I'm lucky, because my baseline amount of walking is pretty high. What if you don't walk so much? Get yourself a pedometer and find out how much you do walk during the day. It may be more or less than you think. Then, set yourself a goal of increasing it by a certain amount each day. Say you walk an average of 3,000 steps a day when you're gathering your baseline data. The next week, you can aim to walk 4,000 a day, and then 5,000 each day the week after that.
Little increases in walking really do add up. We've all heard the suggestion that we park farther from the entrance to stores. Try also going to the coffee shop that's slightly further from your office, or instead of going to the nearest restroom in your office, find one that's on another floor or takes a bit longer to walk to. Walk around while you sip your afternoon coffee, pace while you talk on the phone...
What are some of your favorite ways to slip a few more steps into your day?
I've been wearing a pedometer for about a week, now, and I'm surprised to find how, without even meaning to, I'm competing with myself to walk more than I would otherwise: If, toward the end of the day, I'm close to a big round number -- say I have 8,500 steps -- I'm motivated to try to round it out to 9,000 by walking around the house more in the evening, or even to get to 10,000 by going out for a little walk in my neighborhood.
The recommended number of steps a person should get per day is 10,000. Because I live in the city and don't have a car, I walk a lot, so I find that in the course of my average day, walking from my house to the T, the T to my office, around my office during the day and then back home, I get around 4,000 steps. By taking a short midmorning and midafternoon break to walk around my neighborhood for about 10 minutes each time, I push it up to 6,500. A single long walk at some point in the day then gets me over 10,000.
But I'm lucky, because my baseline amount of walking is pretty high. What if you don't walk so much? Get yourself a pedometer and find out how much you do walk during the day. It may be more or less than you think. Then, set yourself a goal of increasing it by a certain amount each day. Say you walk an average of 3,000 steps a day when you're gathering your baseline data. The next week, you can aim to walk 4,000 a day, and then 5,000 each day the week after that.
Little increases in walking really do add up. We've all heard the suggestion that we park farther from the entrance to stores. Try also going to the coffee shop that's slightly further from your office, or instead of going to the nearest restroom in your office, find one that's on another floor or takes a bit longer to walk to. Walk around while you sip your afternoon coffee, pace while you talk on the phone...
What are some of your favorite ways to slip a few more steps into your day?
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
WalkBoston Blogs!
As the new program coordinator here at WalkBoston, I'm thinking a lot about ways to get the word out about us and our programs. Before I saw the job listing for this position, I hadn't heard of WalkBoston, which is crazy, because I'm just the type of person who should know about us: I don't own a car; I care about environmental issues and energy use; I live in the city and am passionate about urban communities; I have a background and interest in public health. Walking relates to all of these issues, and, in fact, is one of the things that ties them all together.
I'll be using this blog to talk about issues related to walking, announce and discuss events hosted by WalkBoston and other walking groups in and around Boston, link to other walking-related topics and research, and generally to remind us all to take a few minutes out of every work day to step out of our offices for a turn around the neighborhood.
I'll be using this blog to talk about issues related to walking, announce and discuss events hosted by WalkBoston and other walking groups in and around Boston, link to other walking-related topics and research, and generally to remind us all to take a few minutes out of every work day to step out of our offices for a turn around the neighborhood.
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