Pedestrian: 1. Walker, ambler, hiker, strider, person on foot 2. Dull, ordinary, uninspired, everyday, humdrum.
Ruminating on this term the other day, it seemed odd one part of the definition spoke to WHAT a person was doing while the second part spoke to HOW something was perceived.
Ruminating because I saw a highly respected, local physician walking facing traffic along Roanoke Street. In the street, along the gutter and as close to the curb as possible, with cars whipping past him inches away and many clearly going well above the posted speed limit driving towards the morning sunlight. Knowing that his office was located less than 2 miles away and seeing him professionally dressed rather than for recreation, and seeing where he was coming from, one could easily assume he'd dropped a vehicle off at an automotive service business near the 460 bypass.
He was facing traffic because he's a smart man. He was in the road because there are no sidewalks or pathways. The adjacent ground is weed covered, wet with dew and slippery. The ground is littered with trash and broken glass, uneven with rocks and dirt and hidden holes, and frequently blocked by traffic signs, guy wires or utility poles. Like I said, he is a smart man who had obviously weighed the odds of one type of injury (twisted knee or ankle) over another (leaping out of the roadway, away from an oncoming car).
So walking in the road was the best option for keeping his eyes up instead of on the ground watching his footsteps, keeping his clothes clean and dry. Certainly not an ordinary, humdrum or an everyday activity for this man -- yet it is for many others who have no means of transportation except their own two feet to get from point a to point b (from home to a job) or from home to the nearest bus stop (there are less than a dozen of these throughout the entire town).
We often think of sidewalks or connected pathways as being just for recreation, undertaken to restore or sustain good health or for pleasure.
For many, walking or biking is instead an economic reality whether situationally or routinely. Weather and time become bigger factors in the equation when traveling without a car. Environmental concerns, too, are beginning to be reflected in people's choices for traveling around.
Christiansburg residents are quick to point out "neighborhoods" and "people" are a couple of the best things about our hometown. Yet both of these attributes remain mostly disconnected without public spaces and pathways to link them. A chief complaint is that the integrity of neighborhoods and safety is being compromised, but how or why this happens can be interpreted in as many ways as there are citizens.
With health issues prevalent due to an "American Lifestyle" (urban, car oriented, sedentary, processed junk food society) and soaring gas prices which will never be cheaper than they are today (regardless of what political actions are taken) -- it really brings home the fact that we could have, should have been building paths for more than just cars alone all along.
There are efforts to expand such a trail system within Christiansburg, linked to other systems throughout the greater NRV area, but funding for regular road maintenance and construction hasn't kept up with needs. So this other funding for non-automobile transportation is difficult to secure and remains just beyond our means, something that will get done whenever there's a little extra left over.
How very pedestrian, or uninspiring.