Walk Score
Walking. The most minimalistic form of transportation! I have always liked walking though I have avoided it before in the name of laziness. Walking has always been a mind cleanser and a time to think. Walking slows us down and removes the sense of hurry from the mind thus making us assume that non-activity has taken priority over activity.
People do a lot of walking everyday. The most significant ones are as follows: walk to the car, walk out of it to the office, walk through massive parking lots, walk from a car to a fast food restaurant if the drive-through is backed up and walk through grocery stores. To capture this great feat of walking, we carry state-of-the-art electronic devices on us to measure the number of steps.
There is even a website that lets you know the walkability of where you live: link
Since Jacksonville has managed to build suburbias within city limits, I had no doubt that the walk score would be nothing but phenomenal. My neighborhood came out with flying colors.
- super-duper-phenomenal score
This is the only reason that I would never buy a single-family-home in a suburbia type environment. Even though the values of single-family homes appreciate more than that of condos, I’d pay the price in stress, overweight, diabetes or heart disease. Living in a closer packed environment is a lot better for the mind. You get to step out of your door and be a part of the society instead of enclosing yourself in a capsule and driving 2 miles to just get out of the neighborhood.
I wish my work moves Downtown so I can move to San Marco or Downtown and live a more healthy life. Till then, it is me on my bicycle and irritated suburbia-living-drivers wondering how I can be on the road with them!