You hear this a lot – that no one walks in Houston, we drive. I’ve lived in Houston my entire life, and would say that having a dependable car is definitely a requirement. I’d even go so far to say that driving something a little larger in Houston makes you feel a wee bit safer – that you’re not going to get crushed by the other oversized SUVs of Trucks so prevalent here.
According to this Walk Score site, there actually are neighborhoods in Houston that are “walk-friendly”. I work in one of them, the Montrose. Unfortunately, since I need my car to get to-from work, I tend to still use it, even in this neighborhood (there are a few restaurants we do walk to, which are the exception rather than the rule). Also, since it’s 100 degrees outside during the summer, I don’t want to feel sticky all day. So I guess that even though this is a “walkable” neighborhood, I suppose that might only apply if you both live and work in this area.
** update 07/22/08 – Google maps apparently now includes a beta of walking directions, so you can look at your directions by car or walking. Is Google trying to tell me something?
Farewell Randy Pausch
Apparently I’ve been working too much this week because it took me until yesterday to realize that Pausch lost his battle with cancer this past weekend (and I thought I had been following his story pretty closely). Like many, at least 5.5 million according to YouTube, I watched the “Last Lecture” video and read all the news reports. The speech is inspirational for sure, but I honestly still can’t watch or read anything about him without thinking about this family and their loss. While he seems to have helped so many, especially in his last months, I can only imagine the impact he has had on those closest to him.
I *hope* that I possess some small sliver of what we all admired in this man.