Europe is making me walk everywhere, I miss my car.

The American mind cannot comprehend a lifestyle with walking as your main source of transport. While it’s true Europeans think a 30 minute car ride is a “long drive” the opposite is true for walking. In America if you had to walk more than 15 minutes, you simply wouldn’t, you would drive. But do not worry! You, an American, are not to blame! The United States was not built specifically with pedestrians as a focus. This leads to very poor pedestrian infrastructure, often inconvenient, unsafe, and impractical. You may ask: Why is the pedestrian infrastructure in Europe so much better? What are some symptoms of the poor walkability of the US? What can the US do to improve walkability? Wow, great questions, how smart are you!

Why is Europe so pedestrian friendly?

There is only so much space in every city. By their nature, cities have a high density of people living within them, and many commuters during the day. When designing cities, you have to allocate the space for specific purposes and stakeholders. America allocates much more space for automotive infrastructure, roads, bridges, parking garages/lots, while Europe allocates more space to public transit, large pedestrian sidewalks, and protected bike lanes. Public transit is a huge player in this, with people effectively able to travel in and out of the city without bringing a car along, allowing for more area for green spaces, gathering areas, or wider sidewalks.

Zoning laws also play a large part. In the US, zoning laws in cities prevent businesses from opening in suburbs where people live, and prevent people from living in areas strictly for commercial buildings. If the zoning laws were more like Europe’s, we would see more businesses close to people’s homes, and more people living near businesses. The poor zoning laws in the US increase commute time and traffic because people have to travel long distances, even for basic necessities like groceries, when it could be avoided nearly completely. 

Symptoms of poor walkability in the US.

Even though it may not seem like it, whether or not your city is walkable can play a major role in your mental/physical health, the economy, and many other things. Walking is scientifically proven to improve mental health itself, but also walking increases the feel of connection within a community which is obviously important for mental well-being. The health benefits should also be obvious. Walking is such a great way to improve physical health, it’s the most convenient form of exercise and if you need it to commute, it won’t take anymore time out of your day. Economic benefits are a result because more people have access to work because of the ease of transportation. 

Areas for improvement?

There are many ways that the United States can improve this, however at the forefront of them all, is money. Money makes everything happen and this is no different. Money can improve green spaces to make dull places more inviting, build more benches, water fountains and shade. More investment in public transport can lead to a decrease in, for example, parking lots which in the US take up about 22% of the area of every downtown.(Jacobs, F.)

Conclusion 

I am very thankful for the opportunity to live here in Bonn for the spring as it’s my first (and hopefully not last) experience with a walkable city. At the end of the day what walkable cities do for their citizens is improve quality of life. The same can absolutely be done with traditional American cities, however, it will be impossible if people aren’t aware it can be improved, and don’t have inspiration to care. If the people are not behind the idea, then there is no chance any government will invest in it. After this blog, my hope is that we are all a bit more aware or at least slightly more inspired. 

Much love,
Ryan D

References

Su, C. (2023, July 29). Why American Cities Suck (and European Cities are so Charming). Medium. https://cassiesu100.medium.com/why-american-cities-suck-and-european-cities-are-so-charming-fb44acf22007#:~:text=The%20charm%20and%20livability%20I,inconvenient%20to%20rely%20on%20cars.

Is your city’s downtown mostly parking? (n.d.). https://www.sofiproducts.com/blogs/quick-sip/is-your-citys-downtown-mostly-parking#:~:text=It’s%20not%20just%20your%20imagination,Let’s%20take%20a%20look.

Averageguymedianow. (2024, December 2). Make America walkable again!!! – AverageGuymedianow – Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/@averageguymedianow/make-america-walkable-again-ae54f9848a92#:~:text=Pedestrian%2DFriendly%20Design&text=The%20U.S.%20could%20increase%20investments,amenities%20makes%20walking%20more%20pleasant.

Jacobs, F. (2023, March 25). These maps provide graphic evidence of how parking lots “eat” U.S. cities. Big Think. https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/parking-lots-eat-american-cities/

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