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Walk the talk: Cities urged to study footpaths for better land use

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By WASHINGTON

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America is the land where it is expected that all people drive-changing that mentality is nigh impossible.

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I remember from my visits to Europe that one typically walks around the cities, or takes mass transit. Most of those cities were built at a time when cars and mass transit did not exist, so walking was natural, and the habit seems to have stuck.

Until recently, most Americans lived in the countryside, making much walking impractical. Even today, living in the suburbs, walking is done more for joy than as a necessity. In the cities most construction is recent, and walking very far was not expected was not part of the plans.

We have an unfortunate reality over here, that corporations are allowed to have an outsized influence over government and society. I remember as a child that we had a massive system of electric light-rail in Southern California. It was actually the largest light rail system in the world, with over one thousand miles of tracks being used. In the 1940s it had the most ridership of any light rail system in the world, for a while. To maximize their profits, major corporations (Standard Oil, General Motors, and Firestone) were allowed to purchase the light rail system in California, which they first ran into the ground, and then dismantled. They did this not only in California, but all around the U.S.A., in over 50 locations. So, they dismantled mass transit in the U.S., they fund climate denialists, they pushed for the over throw of the democratically elected government in Iran in the 1950s......how much else have they done that we don't even know about?

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Agreed entirely, @kurisupisu and @1glenn.

In the USA people who cannot drive have been turned into second-class citizens.

And, despite all the progress that has been made to help religious, ethnic, and gender minorities, no one seems to care.

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