Lakewood, walkble? that's laughable

[steve fecser]

When walkscore.com bestowed the accolade “most walk-able city in Ohio” upon Lakewood, a city which seems to be showering itself with accolades of late, did they bother to interview any pedestrians to obtain some first hand information or facts? The article in the Lakewood Observer doesn’t mention what walkscore.coms criteria are for rating a city most walk-able other than some gibberish about vibrancy. You would think pedestrian safety would be a primary contributing factor.
I have been a frequent Lakewood pedestrian for over a year, traversing all the routes, east, west, north and south, usually 2 to 3 miles per day, every day. I have been struck twice by vehicles; in a crosswalk on Madison and Mars and on a sidewalk on Detroit Ave. in front of the YMCA driveway. Fortunately I did not sustain serious injury and the offending drivers were “OMG don’t call the police” apologetic. As for the number of near misses, or near hits, I have lost count. (Note: the vibrant areas are the most dangerous).
There seems to be no lack of abundance of ignorant, discourteous, selfish and reckless drivers in Lakewood, a negative accolade that this city is so deserving of. I learned years ago in Drivers Ed., that a pedestrian in a crosswalk with the traffic light in their favor has the right of way. Have traffic laws changed? Or do these laws not apply in the supposed most walk-able city in Ohio?
As a Lakewood pedestrian, I have been subjected to drivers obscene gestures, verbal obscenities, squealing tires and, my favorite; the demonstrably animated hands flying off the steering wheel and up in the air, like “OMG, WTF, why are you walking so slow causing me to wait an extra 2 seconds to turn.” Then there’s the selfish idiot drivers who pull half way into the cross walk as you are approaching to cross, of course they have to do this to gain an unobstructed view of traffic because of all the parked cars lining the street…A’ hem, take note city of Lakewood division of traffic and safety.
While I thought walking to my Lakewood destinations would be an enjoyably healthy alternative to driving, while simultaneously reducing my carbon footprint, I have come to the conclusion that the stressful and often dangerous match up of vehicle vs. pedestrian is one that I will one day, or night, ultimately lose. Any appreciable continuance of my bipedal excursions in Lakewood would perhaps indicate a subconscious death wish or the onset of insanity.

p.s. Perhaps there should be a site dedicated to the drive-ability of cities in relation to the walk-ability. I think Lakewood would lose one or two accolades.

[Sean Wheeler]

I found the following post on boingboing.net, one of the greatest sites on the net. I think it's pretty appropriate and might be something someone could get going for our pedestrians.

[url]
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/12/18/ma ... -card.html[/url]

[Kate McCarthy]

That's a great idea Sean. And it would be great if the safety forces would work to help make the city more safely walkable. I cannot get over how many drivers fly through the stop signs on the streets joining Clifton only stopping after they have flown through the crosswalk and have joined Clifton Blvd. A few tickets would stop that behavior quickly.

[Bryan Schwegler]

So I'm not so sure how you're walking, where you're walking, or maybe you just don't feel you need to be pay attention to what's around you, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're overreacting a bit.

I've lived in Lakewood my entire life including walking to every school I attended here every single day of the school year and Lakewood and Madison parks when I taught swimming lessons and lifeguarded in the summer. I now walk or bike to as many places as I can around town. And quite honestly, I've never been hit by a car, yelled at by drivers, received obscene gestures, or even felt as threatened as you apparently do.

The only way I can think that's possible is if you just feel you don't need to pay attention to your surroundings and just charge ahead with common sense be damned.

Not saying there aren't aggressive drivers, but there are also aggressive cyclists and pedestrians. All three groups have people that don't pay attention, don't do what they're supposed to do, and generally are just causing a problem.

In the end, everyone has to pay attention and be safe.

Lakewood is definitely walkable.

[Mike Coleman]

I think that's a good take, too, Bryan. For instance, there are several -- if not many -- intersections where it is just plain impossible to safely stop and turn either right or left without stopping in a crosswalk. This may be due to buildings, trees, hedges, etc. I usually stop well outside the crosswalk, look both ways and then, if I have to to turn safely, pull into the crosswalk if there are no walkers or bikers coming. However, that can change if you sit there long enough for cars to pass. Once my car was forcibly attacked by a jogger who couldn't bother to stop for me to get out of his way, or simply jog a few feet behind my car. I calmly asked him to put himself in my shoes and show me exactly where it was safe to stop the car and turn left due to a hedge. He called me a bunch of profane names and then demonstrated that I actually should have stopped exactly where I did. He didn't apologize but ran off without further incident. I've also had several incidents where cyclists have waited for the light to turn red before racing across the street, almost killing themselves. These daredevils usually display their ignorance of traffic laws by flipping off the drivers who actually know that green means go, and red means stop.

[steve fecser]

So I'm not so sure how you're walking, where you're walking, or maybe you just don't feel you need to be pay attention to what's around you, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're overreacting a bit.

I've lived in Lakewood my entire life including walking to every school I attended here every single day of the school year and Lakewood and Madison parks when I taught swimming lessons and lifeguarded in the summer. I now walk or bike to as many places as I can around town. And quite honestly, I've never been hit by a car, yelled at by drivers, received obscene gestures, or even felt as threatened as you apparently do.

The only way I can think that's possible is if you just feel you don't need to pay attention to your surroundings and just charge ahead with common sense be damned.

Not saying there aren't aggressive drivers, but there are also aggressive cyclists and pedestrians. All three groups have people that don't pay attention, don't do what they're supposed to do, and generally are just causing a problem.

In the end, everyone has to pay attention and be safe.

Lakewood is definitely walkable.

How I'm walking, you ask? usually with my legs and feet, unless I had Wheaties for breakfast, then I may have an acrobatic tendancy to walk on my hands and do backflips. My routes are typically all directions, except nothing east of warren road or north of detroit. I am acutely aware of my surroundings and traverse at a leisurely pace (not fast, not slow). I have a moderate personality and behavioral disposition with a tendancy not to overreact to much of anything, other than erroneous articles that I read in the lakewood Observer. I also have lived in Lakewood my entire life and walked 3 miles to and from school every day. Thank God there are school crossing gaurds or else Lakewood would really have a problem with dwindling population. There are many crosswalks and intersections that should have fulltime crossing gaurds during peak traffic times and at high risk areas, and not just for school kids. The city should be obliged to protect all Lakewood pedestrians from vehicular harm. As for paying attention? i do that very well, that's why I'm still here and typing you this reponse. Let me know the next time you trek over 700 miles of lakewood in 12 months, you might be telling a different story.

Lakewood walk-able? (Yes)
Lakewood safely walk-able? (No)

[Bryan Schwegler]

I'm sorry, I still stand by my belief that you are seriously doing something weird if you're having that much trouble with traffic and walking in Lakewood. Perhaps you should just stay indoors. I've never known anyone in Lakewood that has had anywhere near the apparent issues you have had walking.

When I combine that with the fact that you clearly have an issue with the LO and the other thread you recently started, I notice a pattern...one in which calls your entire factual account into question.

[Will Brown]

I think the OP has a point, but so do some responders.

It seems to me that more and more drivers are almost isolated from the environment outside their car, as they are busy eating or messaging, or singing with their blasting radios. or fine-tuning the climate control while checking the data on tomtom or whatever.

But at the same time many pedestrians are rapt up in similar pursuits and have no idea about what is coming. Couple this with a common attitude that jaywalking and jayjogging are acceptable behaviour, and that stoplights are only recommendations, and you have a lot of people placing themselves in danger.

I live near a middle school and at dismissal time, many of the kids wander around like a herd of cows. Of course, perhaps they have to because so few of us shovel our sidewalks anymore. And our street enjoys a lot of emergency vehicles; few drivers pull over and stop.

[Bryan Schwegler]

I live near a middle school and at dismissal time, many of the kids wander around like a herd of cows.

Wow, that made me laugh just picturing it.