feet and on foot

Per my previous post... it's hard to not think in metric when I'm an American and measuring things with my literal feet. So natural to go "yep, this sidewalk is five feet" even if I want to switch to metric. Conversion is easy: just multiply by 0.3. But "five feet" sticks in memory better than "1.5 meters", even if I need the meters because I think of lots of other things in metric.

Relatedly, after today's walk, I'm fairly confident that 0.75 meters per person suffices to walk side by side comfortably. 0.6 could work but more risk of brushing against each other. I'm also fairly sure that 1 second following distance is fine. So my route capacity holds: 3 meters of sidewalk width allows 4 people every second so 4*3600 = 14,400 people an hour.

stroads, superblocks, and San Pablo

When I lived in Osaka, I would often walk to the road south of me -- Abiko-suji, or National Route 25 -- and along it. West to Tennouji station, east to the Sushiro I liked. And what struck me was that these walks were rather dull, owing in large part to a lack of businesses. There were some: 7-11, a pasta place, a laundromat, various car businesses. But for a 6 lane road flanked by multi-story buildings, it seemed rather anemic. (Not all that many people, either, at least toward Sushiro.) Well, recently I realized something.

I would ask my American and Canadian readers to envision a commercial street, a shopping center. And let's say it's not a stroad, with big box stores hiding behind parking lots, but a Main Street, something you might enjoy walking down. Alright? Now lift your mental camera into the air, above it, and look down. What is in the center?

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