The City of Brotherly Love is the City of Pedestrian Disregard
Let it be stated, for the record, and for those who don't already know this, I love walking. Shoe, weather, and distance permitting, I will always opt for my feet as my favorite mode of transportation. And I'll permit many shoes, some crazy weather, and a whole lot of distance before I even think of not walking somewhere walkable. And of course, my definition of walkable, is to some, questionable. And to further hammer home the point of my love for walking that knows no boundaries, in sixteen years of working and three cities of residence, I've never had a job I couldn't walk to and it's not a track record I ever plan to break. Suffice it to say, a city's treatment of pedestrians is of extreme importance to me.
When I am asked how I am finding Philadelphia, my first response is always, "It's great! It's so walkable!" And this is true, but in size and layout only.
Let it be stated, for the record, that Philadelphia is the WORST city for pedestrians I have ever set foot in. And I've set foot in many cities but let's stick to to three I've actually lived in so we can compare and contrast.
In Seattle, pedestrians are revered, exalted to god-like status. They are cared for and catered to. They are looked after and looked out for. They are the only population in the city allowed to be visibly angry; in a land where it is unacceptable to hurt anyone's feelings, it is perfectly acceptable to verbally attack a driver should he inadvertently roll into the crosswalk while slowing down for a red light. One would think this would be the city of my walking delight, however, I must admit that Seattle drivers' concern for pedestrians became tedious after twelve years, if not downright dangerous. As a New Yorker, I take great pride in my ability to cross a street against the light and nowhere near the crosswalk. I know how to take care of myself in the road so if the drivers take care of their business, I'll take care of mine and ensure that they won't hit me while I stand on the yellow line in the middle of the street. No can do in Seattle. I can't tell you how many ten car pile ups I almost caused in the Emerald City because as soon as a driver saw me in the middle of the street, he would slam on his breaks, totally unaware that I might have the ability to wait for cars to pass before I made my way across.
Not so much in New York. Pedestrians are, to quote Hedwig and the Angry Inch, "reviled, graffitied, spit upon" (well, not really graffitied and spit upon, but they are reviled and the rest just stresses the hatred). No one wants to slow down for pedestrians in NYC and everyone wants to honk and yell at them even when it's their light. But there's an understanding that beneath the anger, everyone knows what they're doing. And if nothing else, hating pedestrians means that at very least, there's an awareness of them. Anger towards something is an acknowledgment of that thing's existence.
And therein lies my problem in Philadelphia. Pedestrians are neither loved nor hated. They are completely and utterly ignored. As a pedestrian in Philadelhia, I am totally invisible.
I cannot begin to tell you how many times I've come this close (and this close means really, really close, like my thumb and forefinger are really, really close together close) to being mowed down in a cross walk during my right of way because the drivers never, ever look at pedestrians. They don't even turn their heads towards you when you yell things at them like "My light, asshole!" or "Stop sign dickhead!" or "Holy crap you almost fucking took off my legs!" They just keep on driving like you're a transparent ghost who doesn't walk the earth, but merely floats above it for only the special and insane to see.
Of course, I walk to work every day. And of course, I talk to my mother every morning on the way to work. You can call her right now, right this very minute, and ask if every time we talk (Monday through Friday at exactly 8:39AM), I start shouting about having almost gotten plowed into while crossing the street.
There are three cross walks in particular which are most troubling. One is at the corner of my street.
This crosswalk doesn't seem to exist for any driver. Everyone barrels through it at 40 miles an hour minimum, even though it's a residential area and there's a stop sign. I don't even get the courtesy of a California stop, you know when drivers pretend they're going to stop for a stop sign but their wheels really never stop rolling. That would be awesome. Then I'd have a shot. I get nothing at this crosswalk except agony and what I'm hoping will be ongoing safety.
The other two troublesome crosswalks are two laners, as in an intersection of two one way streets, but each street has two lanes that have to stop at the same time allowing the two lanes of traffic from the other street to proceed.
It's similar to the chaos of a four way stop in Seattle where drivers are so damn polite that everyone keeps waving everyone else to go first until they all go at once. No one in Philly is that polite so it's just a mess of cars who have no idea who got there first but no one wants to wait for the other drivers to make their move. Needless to say, no one's checking for pedestrians in this scenario.
Don't even ask how I manage to get across twice a day, once on my way to work and once on the way to the gym. And let me add that the intersection near my gym is home to a Whole Foods parking lot.
I'm quite certain that every Whole Foods parking lot in every city in the U.S. of A. is Dante's tenth ring of hell, so you see what I'm getting at here. Two streets + two lanes + two stop signs + Whole Foods parking lot = DANGER. However, we all know how obsessive I am about getting the to gym, so there is no amount of steel, gas at $3.62 a gallon, or speed of a two ton car that will keep me out of this cross walk.
Oddly enough, however, today, on the way to work, in the two lane crosswalk, someone waved me across. I almost couldn't walk, so amazingly shocked was I. I just about burst into tears and thought for a minute about asking the gentleman to roll down his window so I could give him a hug. I thought better of such actions and waved back ever so politely.
Too bad the guy in the lane next to him wasn't on board with the polite game plan and almost bowled me over. So much for brotherly love.
Let it be stated, for the record, that Philadelphia is the WORST city for pedestrians I have ever set foot in. And I've set foot in many cities but let's stick to to three I've actually lived in so we can compare and contrast.
In Seattle, pedestrians are revered, exalted to god-like status. They are cared for and catered to. They are looked after and looked out for. They are the only population in the city allowed to be visibly angry; in a land where it is unacceptable to hurt anyone's feelings, it is perfectly acceptable to verbally attack a driver should he inadvertently roll into the crosswalk while slowing down for a red light. One would think this would be the city of my walking delight, however, I must admit that Seattle drivers' concern for pedestrians became tedious after twelve years, if not downright dangerous. As a New Yorker, I take great pride in my ability to cross a street against the light and nowhere near the crosswalk. I know how to take care of myself in the road so if the drivers take care of their business, I'll take care of mine and ensure that they won't hit me while I stand on the yellow line in the middle of the street. No can do in Seattle. I can't tell you how many ten car pile ups I almost caused in the Emerald City because as soon as a driver saw me in the middle of the street, he would slam on his breaks, totally unaware that I might have the ability to wait for cars to pass before I made my way across.
Not so much in New York. Pedestrians are, to quote Hedwig and the Angry Inch, "reviled, graffitied, spit upon" (well, not really graffitied and spit upon, but they are reviled and the rest just stresses the hatred). No one wants to slow down for pedestrians in NYC and everyone wants to honk and yell at them even when it's their light. But there's an understanding that beneath the anger, everyone knows what they're doing. And if nothing else, hating pedestrians means that at very least, there's an awareness of them. Anger towards something is an acknowledgment of that thing's existence.
And therein lies my problem in Philadelphia. Pedestrians are neither loved nor hated. They are completely and utterly ignored. As a pedestrian in Philadelhia, I am totally invisible.
I cannot begin to tell you how many times I've come this close (and this close means really, really close, like my thumb and forefinger are really, really close together close) to being mowed down in a cross walk during my right of way because the drivers never, ever look at pedestrians. They don't even turn their heads towards you when you yell things at them like "My light, asshole!" or "Stop sign dickhead!" or "Holy crap you almost fucking took off my legs!" They just keep on driving like you're a transparent ghost who doesn't walk the earth, but merely floats above it for only the special and insane to see.
Of course, I walk to work every day. And of course, I talk to my mother every morning on the way to work. You can call her right now, right this very minute, and ask if every time we talk (Monday through Friday at exactly 8:39AM), I start shouting about having almost gotten plowed into while crossing the street.
There are three cross walks in particular which are most troubling. One is at the corner of my street.
This crosswalk doesn't seem to exist for any driver. Everyone barrels through it at 40 miles an hour minimum, even though it's a residential area and there's a stop sign. I don't even get the courtesy of a California stop, you know when drivers pretend they're going to stop for a stop sign but their wheels really never stop rolling. That would be awesome. Then I'd have a shot. I get nothing at this crosswalk except agony and what I'm hoping will be ongoing safety.The other two troublesome crosswalks are two laners, as in an intersection of two one way streets, but each street has two lanes that have to stop at the same time allowing the two lanes of traffic from the other street to proceed.
It's similar to the chaos of a four way stop in Seattle where drivers are so damn polite that everyone keeps waving everyone else to go first until they all go at once. No one in Philly is that polite so it's just a mess of cars who have no idea who got there first but no one wants to wait for the other drivers to make their move. Needless to say, no one's checking for pedestrians in this scenario. Don't even ask how I manage to get across twice a day, once on my way to work and once on the way to the gym. And let me add that the intersection near my gym is home to a Whole Foods parking lot.
I'm quite certain that every Whole Foods parking lot in every city in the U.S. of A. is Dante's tenth ring of hell, so you see what I'm getting at here. Two streets + two lanes + two stop signs + Whole Foods parking lot = DANGER. However, we all know how obsessive I am about getting the to gym, so there is no amount of steel, gas at $3.62 a gallon, or speed of a two ton car that will keep me out of this cross walk.Oddly enough, however, today, on the way to work, in the two lane crosswalk, someone waved me across. I almost couldn't walk, so amazingly shocked was I. I just about burst into tears and thought for a minute about asking the gentleman to roll down his window so I could give him a hug. I thought better of such actions and waved back ever so politely.
Too bad the guy in the lane next to him wasn't on board with the polite game plan and almost bowled me over. So much for brotherly love.
This is a frightening issue. Pedestrian lane is very important for many; we used this when we are crossing on the road or street to avoid hitting by a car. But, in this case, we should raise public awareness program to combat the growing problem, before it’s too late. All of us want to ensure our safety that’s why we should make an action on this issue. On the other hand, this is not just the problem that Philadelphia is facing, but the global recession as well. The firm, which is known as the Wolf Block, has fallen on hard times of late, and they decided to hold a meeting of the partners to determine just what the future is going to hold. Wolf Block is a prestigious law firm with more than 100 years of history of operation and a diverse practice with over 300 attorneys. There’s no doubt that no one is truly immune to the effects of the recession even if it a large law firm like Wolf Block.