Where do you walk in Houston? (Dallas, San Antonio: university, places to live, restaurant)

[As Above So Below...]

Houston isn’t a walkable city. You can walk for recreational purposes in places like Memorial Park or Rice Village, but walking as a part of everyday life (shopping, going to work, going out to eat, etc.) isn’t really a thing.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Houston isn’t a walkable city. You can walk for recreational purposes in places like Memorial Park or Rice Village, but walking as a part of everyday life (shopping, going to work, going out to eat, etc.) isn’t really a thing.

Overall, yes, absolutely true...and even in "walkable cities", people still drive for many of these same tasks (or a portion of them), if they own a car.

But, it should be noted that there are selected (small) areas of Houston where residents increasingly walk for a (small) portion of these tasks, when they didn't as much formerly. It's an evolutionary process. Look at the Heights for example - there's a lot more residents can walk to now compared to 15 years ago, and many take advantage of that; in fact, it's part of the market appeal of the area for many home buyers. Or Midtown - young folks live there because of how much they can walk or take transit to as part of their social life. Compare to the old days when young upwardly mobile singles lived in SW Houston and drove to every single social destination.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by elnina

^^^ Perhaps. But what it's discouraging, is the fact that we need to drive to get there - fight the traffic, find a parking...
It's not that you can walk there from home, few people can, but most of us live too far.
Everywhere in Europe, people step out their houses and walk, they don't need to drive to have a walk...

I do bike but it's a hassle too. I need to drive to my biking destinations (parks/trails) where I feel safe, because biking on the streets is so very dangerous.
Most of us can't just go for 30 min walk or bike.
To do so we first need to waste our time in traffic driving there, then find parking (and pay for it).
I often just don't have enough time to do so.

If you work downtown or in the Medical Center these places are accessible at lunch by foot.

Much of the Heights, West U. and Bellaire also have places accessible by foot from home.

It is different from Europe. But IMO, most of those differences are positive.

[timtemtym]

I've been in LA 8 years now and I so miss Houston's trail system! There are so many great places to go for a walk. Most of our outdoor trails here are only there because the land is too steep to build on. Going on canyon hikes is intense and they're hard to get to with zero parking.

Houston has so many great parks and trails. Even in the super hot months I could go right around sunset and it was bearable. I loved Hermann Park, Memorial (way too crowded most nights), Terry Hershey trail, White Oak bayou, Buffalo Bayou trail (I always found a parking spot by sports park or nearby), etc...

Houston has unique trails in that you can actually go a full mile or more without dealing with car traffic or a dangerous crosswalk. Terry Hershey has 7-8 miles worth of trails that go under roads and are completely safe from car traffic. Buffalo Bayou trail has a good 3-4 miles (double if you go back and forth) without cars.

City of LA has nothing like this. If you do find a trail like that then you have to keep an eye out for homeless encampments. Any space hidden away from cars/cops will fill with tents pretty quickly. Not sure if Houston is dealing with this as well, but it is sad and out of control out here. Then there are the beach trails which are great but have zero shade and the UV index in California is off the charts even when slathering on sunblock. There are very few shady, green trails out west.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by timtemtym

I've been in LA 8 years now and I so miss Houston's trail system! There are so many great places to go for a walk. Most of our outdoor trails here are only there because the land is too steep to build on. Going on canyon hikes is intense and they're hard to get to with zero parking.

Houston has so many great parks and trails. Even in the super hot months I could go right around sunset and it was bearable. I loved Hermann Park, Memorial (way too crowded most nights), Terry Hershey trail, White Oak bayou, Buffalo Bayou trail (I always found a parking spot by sports park or nearby), etc...

Houston has unique trails in that you can actually go a full mile or more without dealing with car traffic or a dangerous crosswalk. Terry Hershey has 7-8 miles worth of trails that go under roads and are completely safe from car traffic. Buffalo Bayou trail has a good 3-4 miles (double if you go back and forth) without cars.

City of LA has nothing like this. If you do find a trail like that then you have to keep an eye out for homeless encampments. Any space hidden away from cars/cops will fill with tents pretty quickly. Not sure if Houston is dealing with this as well, but it is sad and out of control out here. Then there are the beach trails which are great but have zero shade and the UV index in California is off the charts even when slathering on sunblock. There are very few shady, green trails out west.

Yeah I can see that. LA's parks are so overcrowded just like the rest of the city that its barely even worth it.

Interestingly enough, my boss came to Houston from LA this week (I normally go to LA at least twice a month for the week). I asked him what he thought of Houston and he said "It doesnt make sense". He said he feels the food is great, its super diverse, and he loved the museum district, but he was very confused by the lack of city organization and the wide range of cost of housing depending on the part of city. Hes only ever lived in LA for his life. I must admit, it was confusing the first time I came to Houston too. Its good to remember what seems normal for us is probably quite perplexing for those whove never spent time here.

[SanJac]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Houston isn’t a walkable city. You can walk for recreational purposes in places like Memorial Park or Rice Village, but walking as a part of everyday life (shopping, going to work, going out to eat, etc.) isn’t really a thing.

The OP’s original message wasn’t about “walkability” but rather where do people walk for their health.

One can literally walk anywhere in Houston for their health... just walk outside your front door and throughout your neighborhood. If you do it early enough you can beat the heat. Some people prefer to walk in the evening.

I’m fortunate that I can walk within my neighborhood or to numerous parks within walking distance from my home.

Where I grew up (in a poorer neighborhood) we would walk to the high school and use the track.

There are no excuses for not walking for exercise.

[chris_ut]

I usually walk to the neighborhood park. When I lived in Oak Forest that was Candleight Park, always tons of people out walking there in the evenings. Now I walk over to Loftin Park which is also popular and a great walking park.

[descovy]

So many people in my social circle run for exercise/fun. And all over town you see bumper stickers with 13.1 or 26.2 (noting that they participate in half/full marathons)

Yet they don’t walk errands. A neighbor of mine (who posts her weekend 8 mile runs on social media) asked me to give her a ride home from the mechanic. 1 mile away. All sidewalks in our master planned community.

I too, use this mechanic in part because it is close enough to walk home, rather than wait in the waiting room. I may not be a half marathon runner (very on trend these days) but I don’t mind a mile or so walk to run an errand.

[jerbear30]

I walk very rarely in the summer, except indoors. In the fall and winter, I take a lot of neighborhood walks. There are issues with that too because we don't have very many streets with sidewalks where I live. To be honest, the lack of walking opportunities is a source of frustration for me. I do it when I can, which isn't that often. And of course as has been mentioned, the parks are nice. I like Hermann park for walking and also Bear Creek park which is not too far from where I live. In the fall, Bear Creek park is really beautiful.

[fnh]

Our Houston neighborhood has both sidewalks and meandering gravel trails around the lakes (which are not merely retention ponds but were spring-fed before the neighborhood was built). The trails are wooded and shady, very pleasant, unlike many in Houston that are completely unshaded and often paved. The trails and sidewalks were a major consideration for us in choosing the neighborhood. Our lucky pooch gets walked 4-6 times per day.