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>Growing up in northern New England, a lot of mall walkers chose it not because we have too many freeways or lack bike paths or nature trails, but because walki
by occz 4y ago
>Growing up in northern New England, a lot of mall walkers chose it not because we have too many freeways or lack bike paths or nature trails, but because walking outdoors can be unpleasant in the dark, frigid, and often-slippery depths of winter. An icy path may not be a huge deal for someone my age, but the risks are greater for an older person falling from a standing height (e.g.: one in three adults age 50+ dies within 12 months of getting a hip fracture).
This sounds to me like a matter of infrastructure - street lights and plowing + puttin gravel on walking infrastructure.
>I imagine people in very hot climates appreciate being able to exercise in air conditioning, and you can also schedule it with others (say, every Tuesday and Thursday at 10am) regardless of inclement weather. But I would guess a lot of it has been supplanted by going to the gym (there are a lot more gyms around here than there used to be).
And this also sounds to me kind of like a matter of infrastructure - planting trees to provide shaded paths and cooler microclimates could remedy this issue. This one is less solvable though on account of the ongoing climate catastrophe, but it can at the very least be improved.
- hoppyhoppy2 4y agoThose infrastructure improvements sound great, don't get me wrong, but walking in a snowstorm in windy 10-degree-Fahrenheit weather would still be considered unpleasant by a lot people even with good plowing and lighting. (I hike and run all through winter, but some people just want a comfortable place to walk.) Maybe climate catastrophe will "help" "solve" that issue, but in the meantime I think a lot of folks around here will continue to walk in malls and gyms when it's cold out.
- occz 4y ago>Those infrastructure improvements sound great, don't get me wrong, but walking in a snowstorm in windy 10-degree-Fahrenheit weather would still be considered unpleasant by a lot people even with good plowing and lighting. (I personally hike all through winter, but some people just want a comfortable place to walk.) Maybe climate catastrophe will "help" "solve" that issue, but in the meantime I think a lot of folks around here will continue to walk in malls and gyms. The key to this is that there's no 10F snowstorm every day. It's perfectly feasible to optimize for the case where it's a simple and pleasant snowy day. I don't think the climate catastrophe is likely to remedy the problem of unpleasant weather up north, unfortunately. It's liable to just get more extreme.