Making Motions
A few days ago I walked over 5 miles just exploring the Western half of Portland, which is mainly downtown and the NW parts, and really, only a small amount of those.
And then a couple of nights ago the Yummy and I walked 3 miles home from a cookout after 11pm on a Friday night.
And at least every three days or so we walk this two miler, often back again (to places with exotic names like Bagdad, misspelled, and Bar of the Gods).
Of course, none of this was written to impress you, I’m certain I’ve already done that in the past or easily will in the future, but more a testament to one of two things, which one, or which combination of the two I can’t be sure.
Possibility one is that, being in a new city, we have a propensity and desire to explore. This can often be lost, or at least the desire to explore is drastically diminished, when you’ve already discovered everything you think you can in a given city.
Possibility two is simply that Portland lends itself to a walking environment. Ample sidewalk room, cars stop for you in every crosswalk and often when you’re jaywalking they’ll slow to a crawl just so you can make it without running, and the lack of any real hills combined with a beautiful backdrop make this city a ped Xers dream.