Walking in “downtown” Evans

After a month of listings, phone calls, and meeting up with prospective buyers in various parking lots around town, I’ve traded the car Andrea and I bought when we returned from London in April 2001 for a counter check in to our bank account.

The guy who bought the car really likes it, which is good, because I really like it, too, and to be honest am a little bit sad to see it go. I hardly have any pictures of it at all! So, bye bye car, we enjoyed it, but that’s not the point of this. The guy, a graduate student at Georgia Southern who had been saving up for a nice used car, asked me once the transaction was complete if I needed a ride anywhere.

“No thanks. I appreciate it, but I’m going to stop by the library since I’m already over here, and then I’ll just walk back to work.” He looked at me like I’d told him that yes, my ears DO grow cornstalks at this time every day.

“Really, it’s no big deal, it’s only a mile or two.” Here I had a perfect opportunity, even an excuse, for some self-powered transportation, and I wasn’t about to squander it for a two mile car ride on such a beautifully cool sunny morning.

It took me around half an hour. Evans has just enough sidewalks to make you notice it has sidewalks when you’re driving around, but not enough of them to actually walk anywhere. Starting at the library, you’re on sidewalk until you hit Washington Road, but cross it and you’re on county-maintained shoulder for a block or two. After that it’s lawns in front of strip malls for a few more blocks, then cut through a neighborhood with no sidewalks but also no traffic. After the neighborhood, cross over Hereford Farm Road and you’re in a brand new office park with the first buildings nearing completion; some sections of this have sidewalk, but the sidewalk starts and ends in strange places, so half the time you’re walking in the road or in the grass.

I wonder if sidewalks or pedestrians to demand them have to come first? Maybe I should start going to the county planning meetings.

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2 Responses to Walking in “downtown” Evans

  1. schuyler says:

    One of my favorite memories of my Appalchian Trai Hike was in Franklin, NC. 2 other hikers and I ate at a Pizza Hut when we first got into town. (Ate? We _destroyed_ that buffet…) We asked the waitress if there was a Wal-Mart/Target/KMart type of store for something or other. “well, yeah, but it’s _far_.” “how far?” “oh, it’s at least 500 yards over that way.”

  2. frank says:

    It’s amazing what short distances people will drive! There’s a doctor’s office across the street from our office, 294 yards door to door (Yes, I measured it). Several people use it. Most drive to get there.

    In other human-powered transportation news, this is National Bike Month, and Friday is Bike to Work Day.

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