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Sidewalks and Mailboxes
There was an article in the Washington Post yesterday that had to do with several towns in Montgomery County (Maryland suburbs of D.C.) putting in sidewalks. Apparently, residents are not entirely happy about this. It amazed me that there were people who said they bought places in their neighborhoods specifically because they didn't have sidewalks. (The county has always had the right of way to build the sidewalks, by the way.)
This is so completely alien to my way of thinking. I'd never consider living somewhere that didn't have sidewalks. Do people really not want to be able to walk around the neighborhood?
On another urban planning subject, maybe it is just me, but there seem to be a lot fewer mailboxes than there used to be. It's not a real problem for me since there is an outgoing mail slot at the mailboxes in my building and there is a post office right by my office. (And there is another mailbox right across the street from the building I work in, as well as the very odd R2D2 one by the shops south of the building.) But I had a meeting at another location in Arlington today and I did not see a single mailbox within about 5 blocks of the Ballston metro. Which made me think about it more and I realized I have never seen an actual public mailbox in my neighborhood. Very odd.
This is so completely alien to my way of thinking. I'd never consider living somewhere that didn't have sidewalks. Do people really not want to be able to walk around the neighborhood?
On another urban planning subject, maybe it is just me, but there seem to be a lot fewer mailboxes than there used to be. It's not a real problem for me since there is an outgoing mail slot at the mailboxes in my building and there is a post office right by my office. (And there is another mailbox right across the street from the building I work in, as well as the very odd R2D2 one by the shops south of the building.) But I had a meeting at another location in Arlington today and I did not see a single mailbox within about 5 blocks of the Ballston metro. Which made me think about it more and I realized I have never seen an actual public mailbox in my neighborhood. Very odd.
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As for mailboxes, if they're not used to a certain volume, the USPS will move or remove them. It makes sense in that regard, it's inefficient to check a box daily if it's only collecting a few pieces, probably from the same small handful of people. I also know that sadly, a number were removed in some urban centers (along with trash cans) for fear of bombs. A testament to our times, I guess.
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The public sidewalk takes away from their private lawn, apparently.
There is definitely a type of suburban development where walking is treated with suspicion, but I wouldn't have associated that with this region. Admittedly, there are some fairly pedestrian hostile places near where I live in northern Virginia (Fairfax Circle, for example - and Tyson's Corner is notorious) but we also have one of the country's largest networks of mixed use (hike and bike - and, I guess, skate) trails. Way weird.
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Oh, there's a mailbox on the corner of my street next to the bus stop. The sidewalk ends about ten feet beyond that. Maybe there's some relationship between sidewalks and mailboxes and bus stops.