I live in Enderis Park, a neighborhood in Milwaukee. For the first 7 years of living here I mostly left my home and returned to my home by car. Traveling by car is certainly one way to see things. You see things at the speed of car travel. That might be 25mph in your neighborhood, maybe slower sometimes, and definitely faster for some drivers.
We’d go on the occasional walks now and then, and at a slower pace you can see more. You have time to take things in. You are also not locked into a steel soundproof box, so you hear things, come across people, see dogs, cats, rabbits… feel the breeze and the sunshine.
In 2021 I started walking. I mean, I walked a lot. I would walk one to two hours per day sometimes. Miles and miles.
And in all that walking, I got to know my neighborhood really good. I got familiar with all the streets, the houses, the businesses, and the cemetery. I knew which houses had barking dogs so I could avoid them, which had cats so I could go past them. I saw houses where there was always a TV on at 7:30am and which houses had the best sidewalk chalk artists.
I found all the best Little Free Libraries and knew which alleys were the most interesting (ahem) and basically got to know my neighborhood. I mean, there are people of course, not just stuff. I did my best to say “Hi” to people, I saw Bobby T. a bunch, and saw lots of kids headed to school. I should note I gave kids going to school and any women out walking extra space because I am a large guy and I don’t want anyone to feel threatened or unsafe if they have to pass me on a narrow sidewalk.
As I started biking in 2024 (due to foot injuries) I explored the neighborhood in different ways. Going farther and taking different routes. I saw things at the speed of biking. While walking was 3 or 4mph, biking was closer to 8 to 10mph, faster, but still much slower than by car, and a cruise around the neighborhood by bike covers more ground faster, so there was more to see.
Why did I write all of this!? Oh yeah. Get out. Get out there. Get out of your house. See your neighborhood. Say “Hi” to your neighbors. Don’t you want to live in a neighborhood where people say “Hi” to you, and recognize you, and know you, and don’t you want the same? We are social creatures, and look, I am an introvert, and I love my alone time, but I know that’s not completely healthy.
And now that my spine is fixed I am back to walking around the neighborhood (which I’ve not been able to do all year) as part of my recovery, and once recovered I cannot wait to get back on the bike and see what has changed!
(This whole post was prompted by the fact that on today’s walk I found a section of road I bike to work on that has been repaved for four blocks and I got so excited I walked down the road instead of the sidewalk.)
