Great things afoot

It's not new or unique to remark upon the social joy of getting about on foot, but that doesn't detract from the deep pleasure I get every time I encounter a friend or acquaintance when running errands or traveling across town. When I'm in a car, or even on a bike, things and people pass by so quickly -- in a car, I may not even recognize a friend in her car passing the other way, and on bikes, we give a quick wave, but on foot, we can easily stop and have a brief chat. Maybe we're going the same way and can use that time to catch up on each other's lives.

Last week alone, I had this experience five times over the course of the week, including running into a former boss, whom I hadn't seen in about five years! It's a miracle we even recognized each other. I also bumped into a friend and got to hear about her adventures in buying a new condo, and found out that another acquaintance is expecting a baby in February, thanks to strolling around my neighborhood on one of these infrequent dry summer evenings.

It's not a surprise to have such encounters, in general, but each one is always a surprise in itself in who I see and what we talk about when we do.

Disproportionate subsidization

Though vehicles and pedestrians can happily coexist in many settings -- I have my sidewalk and they have their streets -- it's hard for a pedestrian not to feel a little cranky from time to time as policy decisions continually prioritize the infrastructure and culture of private vehicles over all other forms of transportation.

I've long been annoyed by the complaints people throw out about subsidies for public transit without acknowledging the massive subsidization of private vehicles currently practiced in the US.

Thanks to Slate and Daniel Gross, though, I know I'm not alone: Highways Paved with Gold