Street roots., October 26, 2012, Page 12, Image 12

street roots
12
Oct. 26, 2012
Walking for the fun of it
to a recent post in
Portland Transport,
“employees who
he Willamette Pedestrian Coalition
walk to work arrive
has been busy this October
less stressed and
celebrating a new festival called
more alert than
Walktober.
those who drive
Modeled after the alone. Happier
popular bicycle
employees tend to
festival,
stay with their
Pedalpalooza,
employers longer
than stressed
Bicycle
Walktober seeks
workers.”
Transportation
to promote
Walking in groups
Alliance
walkin« as a fun’
is an incredible
b ^ ^ b b i ^
^ b m
healthy,
ubiquitous activity powerful moment,
in the Portland
holding a special
metro region. This is an open calendar,
place in history in
which means that anyone can create, post,
many political
and lead a walk.” Events go through the end
movements. Walking
demonstrated power
of the month culminating in the Bus
Project’s Trick or Vote on Halloween.
in the suffragette
Folks at the Willamette Pedestrian
movement, the civil
Coalition (WPC) are trying hard to put the
rights movement and
fun in pedestrian advocacy. Just consider
the more recent
Occupy movement.
the nature of the word “pedestrian.” Look
up the word in the dictionary and you might
We occasionally
hold walking meetings at the Bicycle
find the first definition as an adjective:
Transportation Alliance. I find walking
“commonplace, unimaginative”. Or look
meetings as a perfect tool for reflection; for
farther down and you might find the
engaging in the creative process. Study after
following usage example: “He lived a
study shows sitting at a desk all day is
pedestrian life, working at the paper mill
simply unhealthy. Get up, get out and get
and living in his trailer.”
walking.
But wait, it gets worse. Under the usage
Walking with friends, with lovers, with
for the noun, you find “The car slid off the
children are intimate experiences. I moved
road and almost hit a group of pedestrians”.
close to Laurelhurst Park simply because
Seriously. All thanks to Merriam-Webster.
Newspapers use the word pedestrian only strolling amongst large trees recharges me.
Hats off and socks on to the WPC for
when there is a crash like this recent
working hard every day to make your
-September Oregonian headline: “Pedestrian
pedestrian activities safer and for doing
struck, killed by car in Cowlitz County.”
their best to celebrate the walk. Join them
Doesn’t make you want to even admit to
in celebrating Walktober.
being a pedestrian. Yet, we all are at
You can do one of the remaining formal
sometime each day, whether we drive, bike,
activities on the calendar at http://
take transit or roll along in wheelchairs.
walktoberpdx.org or simply go out on your
I personally believe that walking is an
own.
absolutely fantastic activity. There may be
no finer form of transportation. According
BY ROB SADOWSKY
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
T
O
'
O
H ealthy Streetbeat is a
m onthly colum n fo r
Street Roots written by
the Bicycle
Transportation Alliance
(BTA). Rob Sadowsky is
the executive director o f
B TA .
P H O T O C O U R T E S Y OF B IC Y C LE T R A N S P O R T A T IO N A L L IA N C E
Ode to October
By Kareem Ali
Stray birds
Cannot take this wind
They scratch their eyes
Against the necks of clouds
The final sea-green leaves
Are spun into a cycle of sun
The tribe of pigeons are
Dispelled and troubled,
Tormented with things that are
And things that are not
sending tax dollars wise
to serve all Portlanders
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