I love Austin. It’s hot - in all the ways. The 8 or 9 years I lived here were some of the best years of my life. So please, Austinities, rest assured that I think it’s an awesome town. Which is all the more reason for a little “tough love”. Over the years, especially since I left this place, I’ve developed quite an affection for walking, cycling, even scooting - alternate modes of transportation. And since I’ve been visiting my friend Mark without a car, he’s been kind enough to let me borrow his bicycle, which I had to walk down to the local bike shop to get fixed. The point is, I’ve been doing more walking and cycling than I used to do when I lived here. And I can honestly say that Austin is one of the worst cities I’ve been in for being a pedestrian. Another thing that’s happened in the years since I left is that I’ve been in some great walking cities - San Francisco, of course, but also Bend and Portland and Paris and even London. Now, some would say that the problem with Austin is just that it’s a southern city, and large, without a tradition of walking and cycling. And there’s some truth to that. But the thing is that Jacksonville - *Jacksonville*, of all places - has done a much, much better job in the last 5-10 years of putting in sidewalks and bike lanes. I would actually say that biking around Jacksonville is pretty pleasant. So really there’s no excuse. I was in the Bicycle Sport Shop here in town and mentioned something to the woman there about what a hard time I was having walking around town. And she didn’t even try to defend it. She said something about 2 ton pickups with drivers that have something to prove. There are parts of Lamar street that are just plain dangerous - with no sidewalks, either. Even in the parts that have “bike lanes”, they are way too narrow, and the drivers just show no respect at all. One guy came within a foot of my ear. They just don’t care. There’s one part on Braker where someone has gone in and installed “Bike Route 10” signs; but it’s a joke. There’s no bike route. There’s nowhere to bike except right in the middle of the lane, and good luck with that, as F250s breathe down your neck.
It’s a shame, really. There’s definitely a running and cycling subculture in Austin. And with the state of things in this country; obesity, diabetes, etc., it just seems like encouraging walking and cycling would be a great thing to do. And if Jacksonville can do it, you can do it. So - do it!