[foxtrot]

I am amazed at how may people are saying they grew up with no pavements (sidewalks), is it because they found no need for them as the location was too remote for anyone to walk to anywhere they may need to go or that they thought no one bothered to walk so why spend money laying down something that no one will use?

I take "walks", however not in the sense of the article. I find that a walk before work is great and on your lunch if you have had a crappy morning. However I walk with a purpose, I think about thinks I see, get my brain interested in stuff I wouldn't usually think about. It gives inspiration and helps figure out problems that otherwise seemed impossible to overcome.

[thyrsus]

On my suburban street, without sidewalks, the pedestrians and children playing own the street nearly as much as the cars - the traffic is sparse, and there are stop signs on just about every corner. The kid's games are suspended to allow cars to pass. There are pedestrians; I'm not enough of a connoisseur to know if they're "walking" ;-).