Within 2 mile walk (Dallas, Howe, Earth: house, neighborhood, buy)

[UnfairPark]

If you went echo friendly/health nutty and started reducing your carbon foot print, how would it work for you? How long does it take you to walk to basic needs like a grocery store, restaurant, pharmacy, theater, shopping mall, hospital, elementary school, a doctor’s office, a laundry or a park?

[JTC Mom]

I love to walk and walkability is a MAJOR factor for me in deciding where to live. Dallas is not very walkable and we are fortunate to be able to live in one of the areas that is most walkable. Even when my housing budget was (a lot) less, though, being able to walk to services has been a major amenity I’ve looked for in a place to live. We are a 5 min walk to pharmacy, coffee shop, bank, and a handful of specialty stores. 15 min walk to a major neighborhood shopping center and a 20 min walk to two other major neighborhood shopping centers, each with grocery, restaurants, clothing, home decor, doctor and dentist, movie theaters (2 of the 3 centers have this). We walk to these less often than I would like (except coffee - do that almost daily). We are pretty far from our elementary and middle schools but my kids walk sometimes (20 min walk).

When we moved here from the east coast, I used to walk a lot more and sometimes neighbors would drive by and ask if I needed a ride . It’s a bit harder to walk here because of the heat but I still did it every day for years when we first moved here. This is probably obvious but...some musts for walking more : comfortable shoes, breathable clothing (wicking fabric is best), a hat and lots of water. A backpack or shopping cart is also super useful if you are walking to a grocery store.

ETA - reacting to the title of your post....I definitely don’t consider 2 miles walking distance for regular errands/daily activities. Of course you can do it, and I have many times but that is not realistic for me (or for many I’ll bet) to do on a daily basis for errands. 20 min max each way (about a mile, maybe a bit more)

[El Chingaso]

I can get to a smaller Asian market in about 10 minutes, a bigger Kroger (bunch of stuff in that center) in roughly 18-20, a park in 7 minutes, a couple of restaurants in 7-10, Home Depot in 15 (although how I’d get stuff back to my house is hmmmmm).

The big way to make a 2 mile circle work? A bike. Nothing fancy, but I have an old beach cruiser that has side saddle baskets, if I combine that with a backpack I can get almost everything I need on the daily within 5-7 minutes and get to work out while I do it.

Because of this, I get to eat a lot of food that sedentary people don’t.

[UnfairPark]

I’m on vacation and it feels so good to see everyone walking compared to DFW, where car dependency has gone to an unhealthy level. Yes, nobody needs to haul week worth of grocery in hands but also no need to take out car to get eggs or coffee or vitamins. As far as walking a mile or two, every able bodied adult should be walking this much, even if not outside then on a trade mill or elliptical.

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by El Chingaso

I can get to a smaller Asian market in about 10 minutes, a bigger Kroger (bunch of stuff in that center) in roughly 18-20, a park in 7 minutes, a couple of restaurants in 7-10, Home Depot in 15 (although how I’d get stuff back to my house is hmmmmm).

The big way to make a 2 mile circle work? A bike. Nothing fancy, but I have an old beach cruiser that has side saddle baskets, if I combine that with a backpack I can get almost everything I need on the daily within 5-7 minutes and get to work out while I do it.

Because of this, I get to eat a lot of food that sedentary people don’t.

Awesome! Keep it up.

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by JTC Mom

I love to walk and walkability is a MAJOR factor for me in deciding where to live. Dallas is not very walkable and we are fortunate to be able to live in one of the areas that is most walkable. Even when my housing budget was (a lot) less, though, being able to walk to services has been a major amenity I’ve looked for in a place to live. We are a 5 min walk to pharmacy, coffee shop, bank, and a handful of specialty stores. 15 min walk to a major neighborhood shopping center and a 20 min walk to two other major neighborhood shopping centers, each with grocery, restaurants, clothing, home decor, doctor and dentist, movie theaters (2 of the 3 centers have this). We walk to these less often than I would like (except coffee - do that almost daily). We are pretty far from our elementary and middle schools but my kids walk sometimes (20 min walk).

When we moved here from the east coast, I used to walk a lot more and sometimes neighbors would drive by and ask if I needed a ride . It’s a bit harder to walk here because of the heat but I still did it every day for years when we first moved here. This is probably obvious but...some musts for walking more : comfortable shoes, breathable clothing (wicking fabric is best), a hat and lots of water. A backpack or shopping cart is also super useful if you are walking to a grocery store.

ETA - reacting to the title of your post....I definitely don’t consider 2 miles walking distance for regular errands/daily activities. Of course you can do it, and I have many times but that is not realistic for me (or for many I’ll bet) to do on a daily basis for errands. 20 min max each way (about a mile, maybe a bit more)

All of us should be making an effort to do it whenever possible, for our own health and to show children/grand children that walking is a part of healthy human lifestyle. I too am guilty of an unhealthy car dependency.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

If you went echo friendly/health nutty and started reducing your carbon foot print, how would it work for you? How long does it take you to walk to basic needs like a grocery store, restaurant, pharmacy, theater, shopping mall, hospital, elementary school, a doctor’s office, a laundry or a park?

Assuming we are talking about city dwellers or close.


1). Don't burn wood for heat or effect ever. If one must burn wood for heat don't do so in a fireplace but rather a purpose built wood stove instead. Carbon release per BTU of usable heat via wood burning is roughly the least "efficient" means of producing heat available. Oil, gas, even coal are far cleaner.
2). Don't burn leaves or trash ever.
3). Don't run small two or four stroke motors beyond the absolute minimum. Blowers, mowers, small generators, small power washers etc. are all shockingly dirty.....along the lines of running one of these things for an hour is like driving a modern car 500 miles. Switch to electric/battery whenever possible.

FE - I have a backpack type gas blower and new 40 volt battery powered blower.......I'm very close to retiring the gas blower.

4). Plan just a little. Nearly everyone could easily cut their non-commute driving by 30% with just a little planning.

5). Minimize new concrete use - concrete is shockingly dirty from a CO2 perspective.

6). Don't run an AC unit until it dies of pressure failure and certainly don't refill a leaking system without fixing the leak. Many refrigerants are dozens or hundreds of times more effective GHGs than CO2.

7). Don't drive an old crapped out car because you think it's cool. Your 1975 Volvo that burns 1 quart per 1,000 miles pollutes worse than 15 or 20 modern well running cars. For that matter don't drive anything that burns oil or is running rich*.

8). No doubt walking and biking is cleaner than driving.

_________________________________________

* I was behind a guy the other week - he was in a ~6-8 year old Nissan minivan complete with Earth First, Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Ducks Unlimited, Bernie etc. stickers all over the back - at least 2 dozen stickers. Every real and bogus environmental concern imaginable + a suite of left wing political stuff. All that and his car was running so rich it made my eyes water. The irony being fully complete here's a guy screaming a cause/mindset of environmental protection precisely while driving around fumigating the city with heated and aerosolized raw gasoline (FWIIW vaporous gasoline is very high in VOCs).

**He's long gone but CD-Dallas used to have a poster who was a very preachy evangelical environmentalist and an overtly political left winger to boot. Long story short this joker burned cords of wood per year in his fireplace, drove and old "classic" truck to work often and had a ~55 mile round trip commute.

[WorldKlas]

All walkable to me .... farthest would be Northpark Mall; that would be about 30-40 min walk. However across the street from us are the Mockingbird Station retail shops. We chose our present home for its walkability, thinking as retirees we needed to start using public transit and buy where there is ease of walking (or using a motorized scooter). We love our location but hate the traffic on Mockingbird. Happy about the new pedestrian bridge....

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by EDS_

Assuming we are talking about city dwellers or close.


1). Don't burn wood for heat or effect ever. If one must burn wood for heat don't do so in a fireplace but rather a purpose built wood stove instead. Carbon release per BTU of usable heat via wood burning is roughly the least "efficient" means of producing heat available. Oil, gas, even coal are far cleaner.
2). Don't burn leaves or trash ever.
3). Don't run small two or four stroke motors beyond the absolute minimum. Blowers, mowers, small generators, small power washers etc. are all shockingly dirty.....along the lines of running one of these things for an hour is like driving a modern car 500 miles. Switch to electric/battery whenever possible.

FE - I have a backpack type gas blower and new 40 volt battery powered blower.......I'm very close to retiring the gas blower.

4). Plan just a little. Nearly everyone could easily cut their non-commute driving by 30% with just a little planning.

5). Minimize new concrete use - concrete is shockingly dirty from a CO2 perspective.

6). Don't run an AC unit until it dies of pressure failure and certainly don't refill a leaking system without fixing the leak. Many refrigerants are dozens or hundreds of times more effective GHGs than CO2.

7). Don't drive an old crapped out car because you think it's cool. Your 1975 Volvo that burns 1 quart per 1,000 miles pollutes worse than 15 or 20 modern well running cars. For that matter don't drive anything that burns oil or is running rich*.

8). No doubt walking and biking is cleaner than driving.

_________________________________________

* I was behind a guy the other week - he was in a ~6-8 year old Nissan minivan complete with Earth First, Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Ducks Unlimited, Bernie etc. stickers all over the back - at least 2 dozen stickers. Every real and bogus environmental concern imaginable + a suite of left wing political stuff. All that and his car was running so rich it made my eyes water. The irony being fully complete here's a guy screaming a cause/mindset of environmental protection precisely while driving around fumigating the city with heated and aerosolized raw gasoline (FWIIW vaporous gasoline is very high in VOCs).

**He's long gone but CD-Dallas used to have a poster who was a very preachy evangelical environmentalist and an overtly political left winger to boot. Long story short this joker burned cords of wood per year in his fireplace, drove and old "classic" truck to work often and had a ~55 mile round trip commute.

We do need to cut down and be mindful of wastage whenever possible.

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by WorldKlas

All walkable to me .... farthest would be Northpark Mall; that would be about 30-40 min walk. However across the street from us are the Mockingbird Station retail shops. We chose our present home for its walkability, thinking as retirees we needed to start using public transit and buy where there is ease of walking (or using a motorized scooter). We love our location but hate the traffic on Mockingbird. Happy about the new pedestrian bridge....

Very nice! Good for you. Pedestrian bridges sure can make it safer to walk and encourage more people to do this. We should push for more pedestrian bridges in all parts of DFW.