Thursday, May 8, 2008

I walk, therefore I am green...

I hate driving. I am lucky enough to live close enough to my job so that I can walk to work every morning. I used to live thirty miles from work, and it would take me between fifty minutes and two hours (depending on the weather and other factors) to travel each way to work. In late August, I moved and started to walk to work. I have since become a changed person. Before, hostile, angry, tense, frustrated, and hoarse (from yelling at the other drivers), I would arrive home and spend the rest of the evening trying to "de-stress" not only from my job, but from my commute. Since I have started walking to work, I have become less tense and less hostile (or at least able to focus my hostility on the things that really bother me:). I feel healthier, not only because I walk, but because I do not have to spend two or three hours of my day couped up in a small, stuffy car without moving. (It is bad enough to have to sit for eight hours a day at your job.)
With concerns such as global warming and rapidly rising gas prices, public transportation, biking and walking are obviously becoming the ideal forms of transportation. However, methods of commute such as these are not only environmentally and financially friendly, they are in fact good for your physical and mental health. [Interesting articles: Green Exercise]
It is unfortunate that there are not a great many cities in the United States where you can rely solely on public transit and walking, or at least rely on it as your preferred mode of transportation. Cities like New York, San Francisco, Boston and Portland have been heralded for their commuter-friendly transportation options. How do you feel your city ranks with regard to transportation?

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