These boots are made for walkin'

We're beginning to understand that one person/one car is an inefficient and wasteful use of resources.  As a result, we're seeing car-free days, better transit systems, dedicated bike lanes.

We're also recognizing that our population is greying, that we'll require additional health resources and social safety nets to support a large cohort of senior citizens.

There is a linkage missing between these two issues: sidewalks.

In the 'old' days when there were fewer cars, we walked on the road when there weren't any sidewalks.  Then, as more and more of us had access to cars, sidewalks were just brief paths from parking spot to destination.

But now, as we're encouraged to get out of our cars and on to our feet, sidewalks are taking on new importance.  And there's the problem:  the sidewalks of yesterday are totally inadequate for today's seniors.

A person using a cane or a walker takes up about two-thirds of a standard sidewalk.  A motorized scooter can take up to three-quarters of the sidewalk.  The other day I met a couple in a two-person side-by-side electric scooter - The first of its kind in Victoria! they said, proudly.  It spanned the entire sidewalk.

Now add young parents with their state-of-the-art child carriers.

And sidewalk cafe seating ... and signs and telephone poles in the middle of the sidewalks ... and overgrown shrubbery ...

All of these are challenges in Victoria.  The mix of young and older people, the increase in people walking, the village atmosphere, are all what make this such a great city.  But Tom and I can no longer walk side by side on the sidewalk now that he uses a walker.

We need to widen our sidewalks.

Or, we can turn them into one-way single pedestrian lanes ...