I walked 10 minutes each way on my lunch break to pick up food and realized I almost always would just drive, I even drive to the store that’s a 5 minutes walk away unless I’m bored and have absolutely nothing to do or anywhere to be.

I had a lot of work to get done the other day and spending 20 minutes getting there and back when I could’ve done it in 3 just seemed kinda crazy.

What kind of area do you live in and do you walk short distances or drive? I live in a city, but not like NYC or San Francisco, so parking is simple and plentiful unless you’re downtown during business hours.


40 comments

  4. Walk because I don’t have a car lol.
    I’m in Chicago. And it’s a walkable city with good public trans

  5. Depends on the weather. I have a rule that in nice weather I have to walk to some places, like the donut shop that is about a mile away, but if it’s cold or rainy I’m more likely to skip donuts than I am to drive there.

  6. Walk, except if I’m going to the grocery store for a big shop. I don’t feel like carrying everything.

  7. I live on a busy highway in a rural area. A grocery store is 1.5 miles away, but it would not be safe to walk….no sidewalks. At work, we do walk to the close restaurants for lunch sometimes, but everything else is by car.

  8. I wish it were possible to walk to places where I live. But given that my area is so car-dependent, and I can’t drive due to epilepsy, I have to have someone drive me places until public transportation is finally available in my area.

  9. I live in a small town and within 3/4 of a mile from most stores and restaurants. If the weather is bad, I’m short on time, or going to be carrying a lot I drive otherwise I walk.

  11. Chicago and surrounding suburb – I would almost always walk that unless a true rush or bitterly cold (and even then depending where you are there’s no choice due to parking), part of the joy of the city is being part of the city.

  13. 5/10min walk I would definitely walk. But I live in the middle of the woods, so it would take me a bit down the mountain, maybe an hour away from downtown 🙂

  15. Walk. But I live in an urban environment. Driving is expensive, time consuming and honestly ridiculous to even consider.

  16. Depends. If it’s cold outside or I’m just needing to run a quick errand I’ll drive. If it’s nice out and I’m not under any time crunch I’ll walk. I walk to restaurants and shops and parks and grocery stores and the gym most every day. I live in a super walkable neighborhood in Denver.

  17. Driving. It’s winter no way am I walking. I’d be alright walking in spring or fall, but usually am grocery shopping and need the trunk space. Also there has been many accidents trying to cross roads near my house so I rather not die.

  18. Most places are not five to ten minutes walk away. But if they are that close, I would probably walk unless I am in a hurry.

  23. There isn’t anything in a 5-10 minute walk from my house except a gas station, which would be pointless without a car. At work, my car is a 5-10 minute walk away and I generally bring my lunch.

  25. I don’t have a store that’s a 5-10 minute walk for me. I live in residential suburban area that turns rural fairly quickly outside of my neighborhood.

  26. There are no stores or restaurants or anything within a 10 minute walk of my house or work

  27. I’m in a rare walkable part of my city, so yes, I do.

    However, for the vast majority of my life, I was in the suburbs and rural. There were no places within a 5-10 minute walk, it was all residential.

  28. I live in a modern subdivision. There’s nothing but other houses within a 5-10 minute walk of me. It makes me sad there isn’t anything to walk to.

    I can get to a grocery store and gas station and strip mall within 2.5 miles, and I have walked to those places before.

    When I was a college student I lived in an apartment in the old part of town and I could walk to a grocery store and the downtown within 20-25 mins, and walked home from campus all the time.

  29. There is nowhere within walking distance around me. But if there was, I’d still drive 😅

  30. I walk, that’s one of the benefits of living in the biggest city in the country.

    Whenever I visit family out of state, I always forget that I need to factor in time for traffic and parking

  31. Only if it is pouring rain or I’m in a hurry, otherwise I walk. I live in Philadelphia.

  32. I live in a very walkable part of Boston and walk almost everywhere for everything. I’ll walk an hour somewhere if I have the time, just for the exercise.

    The exceptions are big grocery runs with heavy items like 24 packs of soda cans, or of I’m really in a hurry.

    I used to live in a suburb where sidewalks would just end all over the place and the roads were huge with 50 mph limits and few protected crossings. I drove everywhere when I lived there because it was too unpleasant to walk.

  33. i drive to work even though it’s a 15-minute walk or 5-minute drive. i don’t even want to call it a commute, it’s so short lol. but being on my feet all day and then walking home? hard pass. i also don’t really like being a pedestrian after dark, on a route that only has sidewalks for about half its distance.

  34. I work right on the edge of downtown in my smallish sized city. So walking from work to there is easy. But it’s impossible to walk anywhere from my home. It’s dangerous. There are no sidewalks and even if you walk along the road in the grass, you could get hit by a car. I don’t trust drivers especially on the road at the end of my neighborhood. Speed limit is 40 but many are going 50+. It’s in county too so not much traffic enforcement.

  35. a 10 minute walk doesn’t even get me to the main road. I live in a more rural area. The closest stoplight is almost 5 miles away.

  37. Walk, but I live in a denser part of my city and don’t own a car. If it’s more than 15 minutes walk, usually I’ll take the bus but I am a bit lazy. If the bus is less frequent, I may ride a bike to save time and the only time I drive is if I have an errand out of the city where renting a car for a couple hours makes sense.
    But when I lived in a small town I tended to drive everywhere; even though my work was a 20 minute walk the 6 minute drive was just more convenient especially in the winter

  39. Depends on the weather.

    Right now when it’s sunny and 70? Yes.

    In August when it’s already 100+ by 9am? No.

  40. There are no sidewalks in my area and the traffic is heavy, so it can be difficult to walk. I’d probably walk a lot more if infrastructure supported it.

    ETA; I just did a quick map search and the closest store or restaurant in about a 45 minute walk anyway, so no. I do not really live in a walkable area.

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