EcoLocalizer

Rhonda and I have gotten to talking, and it turns out that despite living on opposite sides of the country, our neighborhoods have a lot in common. She lives in the Bayview area of San Francisco, CA and I’m living in Edgewood, just east of downtown in Atlanta, GA.

We thought it would make for a cool project to talk about the ups and downs of trying to live sustainably in our different cities.

This week, we’re taking a look at walkability in our respective cities.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to score a ticket to see Al Gore speak at Ahavath Achim Synagogue here in Atlanta. The talk was part of the Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture series. They’ve now hosted 21 lectures, includingn talks from Jimmy Carter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Dr. Henry Kissenger, and both Bill and Hillary Clinton.

What I thought was going to be a pretty straightforward evening left me thoughtful, not just about what Gore had to say, but about the whole experience.

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The Talk

Gore’s lecture was emotional and inspiring. He talked about his new book and his ideas for solving the climate crisis. Since we were at a temple, he crafted his talk to appeal more to the Jewish community. He talked about the Jewish National Fund’s Plant Trees in Israel as a great example of group action making a positive impact and also cited passages form the Torah about people being stewards of the planet.

What really struck me about this talk was how little of what he had to say was doom and gloom. He said, “We are well past the time where we can continue to waste,” and quickly moved on to talking solutions.

Rather than dwell on past mistakes, Gore talked about our bright energy future: improvements in solar and geothermal, wind energy, biomass, and the supergrid.

Gore emphasized that we need to think long term and to stay the course in order to make the change that’s needed to solve the climate crisis. He said that not only do we need the general public on board, but that our politicians the ones with the most power to effect change. He closed his talk saying, “Political will is a renewable resource.”

The Walk

On the way to the synagogue, things got a little hairy.

The temple was unfortunately nowhere near a MARTA train station, so I had to take the car to get there. Confession: I am not much of a driver. In a town like Atlanta, that means I get a little lost sometimes, and last Monday evening was no different. After finally figuring out where I was going, I hit a traffic jam. It was getting close to the lecture’s start time, so I called a friend for help. He talked me through a detour route and suggested that I pull of onto a side street and walk, since parking at the temple was a madhouse.

The side street that I chose was about a mile from the venue. Now, when you tell folks that you walked a mile to get somewhere, you sometimes get a surprised reaction. A mile! That’s so far! Really, though, it only takes 10-15 minutes to walk a mile. It’s all a question of walkability. Luckily, the area where I parked was not dangerous from a crime standpoint. Here was the problem: the walk from my car to the synagogue involved following the narrow shoulder of a two lane road. There were no sidewalks, and cars where whizzing by. It was the longest, scariest mile I’ve ever walked in my life.

It reminded me of a story that my friend Jess was telling me. She lives out in the suburbs and had ridden her bike to the post office. There was nowhere to lock up, so she wheeled her bike into the building. Right behind her was a man who had climbed out of a gigantic SUV. When he walked in the door, he turned to Jess and said, “You have to ride a bike??”

I guess my point here is that it’s all a matter of perception and logistics. Walking can be a relaxing, pleasant way to get around if there are sidewalks or at least a generous shoulder. Or, it can be completely terrifying, like my walk to the temple. Riding your bike is the same. Jess didn’t have to ride her bike. She wanted to pedal to the post office so she could enjoy the nice weather and get some sunshine.

If we want folks to ditch their cars in favor of more eco-friendly modes of transit, I think shifting those perceptions is the key. The real question is how to get started! I think it’s like Gore said so many times that evening: we have the tools we need, it’s just a matter of using them.

Image Credits:
Remixed image using Creative Commons photos from: m.john16 and paytonc
Creative Commons photo by jotape_es

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