By Wendy Steiner
I originally decided to start walking home from work because the packed rush-hour buses made me anxious and bitter, but forcing myself to spend more time walking San Francisco has really changed my relationship with the city (and my calves) for the better. I would encourage anyone with the time to spare to get in the habit of using your legs* to get around this crazy town for the following reasons:
1. Be surprised
It’s not easy for intelligent adults who are constantly doing battle with the forces of evil trying to take their souls and youth to be surprised, but you can give yourself a better chance at seeing something that makes you smile by simply putting yourself in contact with more stimuli. Walking is the reason a delightful old lady and a cat I saw in a window smiled and waved at me with an enthusiasm and pure joy that I will probably never experience again.
2. Exercise
This is obvious, but worth reminding people. Come join me and the other people who occasionally move our bodies in our annoying superiority.
3. Free up more space on the bus for other people
With buses as crowded as they are, it’s actually pretty cool of you to only ride the bus when you really have to and free up room for other people who may have less time or mobility than you.
4. Learn geography
If you’re newer to the city and tired of getting lost all the time or just generally having a poor sense of where things are, get your ass out there and learn streets by touching them with your feet.
5. Notice little changes
Simply for safety, walking requires you to be alert in a way that riding in a car or bus often does not. The city is sprinkled with little rewards for your diligent observation, like the graffiti that popped up super quickly on the Van Ness McDonald’s or being the first to notice when cherry blossoms are blooming. If you walk enough, you’ll start to feel like the city is constantly telling you a series of private jokes and you’ll love her more for it.
6. Discover different vantage points
I think we can all agree San Francisco is beautiful, but there is something extra special and energizing about seeing a different side of the city that you’ve never seen before. Since the differences in blocks here can be so staggering, experimenting with routes can help you get rid of the stale postcard images you might have in your mind and replace them with more vivid views of this place. The less obvious views are likely to be more meaningful to you because you will have earned them.
7. Broaden your definition of neighbors
Interacting with more people on the street can help turn strangers into familiar faces. There’s comfort in knowing that your routine and other people’s routines commingle once in a while and that if anything ever happened to you, the people you’ve been smiling at once a day for the last year will probably notice and care.
8. Music, podcasts, and phone calls are good for you
Literally marching down the street to the rhythm of your own drum is so damn good. Maybe it’s the vitamin D, or the endorphins, or the Chaka Khan but I have yet to find a better remedy for a case of the mehs than putting on headphones and listening away my problems. Oh yeah, and your mom always wants you to call.
*If you don’t have legs, one leg or wheels are cool too! Probably even cooler than legs. Stupid legs.
Photo by Chelsea Francis
