Walkability in Suburbia

Growing up in Brooklyn, NY, everything we needed was within a miles radius from corner stores which we called “Bodegas” to schools and if you wanted to venture out you could ride the subway or take the bus. Owning a car in New York City was not necessary and those who did used it for recreation. My grandfather owned and car and ten years later when it was given to me it only had twenty thousand miles on it, people in the city always walked to where they wanted to go because it was cheap and convenient. I never understood the lifestyle of suburbia until I was twenty-five years old and moved to Tampa, Fl; here you depended on a car as if they were your legs and public transportation was almost non-existent. Just recently I started to take notice of the problems in suburbia and “walkability” was one of them. The other day I was at a stop light a noticed a young couple with a baby trying to cross the street. They were probably headed to the local Target but their mission looked impossible because the streets were so wide and the cars were so fast. I had to question why the suburbs are accessible to only those who have a car. I never had this problem living in Brooklyn. Yesterday, I overheard an overly excited girl talking to her friend on the phone about her new college experience. She was excited that her new school had sidewalks and the mall was only a mile away. This made me think of all the possibilities people would have if suburbia walk were accessible to people more than vehicles.