This is a good rant. And, yes, the very sad thing about the US is that it's very difficult to walk anywhere for useful reasons in most of the country. Even in places where you can, in theory, walk, it usually isn't actually pleasant to walk because the environment just isn't built for pedestrians. When I lived in Irvine, CA, I could (and did!) walk to the supermarket, and to its credit it was, in some sense, built to allow for such walking, but it wasn't actually a pleasant walk. It was a bit too far with not much interesting inbetween and incredibly long wait stoplights and of course the glorious parking lot you had to walk through at the end. After that I moved to Laguna Beach, which is walkable (and more walkable than Irvine) but basically everybody drives everywhere because that's what it is constructed to accommodate.
I don't need to live in a "big city." I have spent time in little tiny places that I have loved. I do need to live somewhere that most of my daily needs - food shopping, a cafe, a bar or restaurant, for example - can be met without a car. A mile walk isn't very far - 20ish minutes! - if it's a nice walk.
(ht AL)
