Maybe every other city obeys the pedestrian signs on busy streets, uses crosswalks, but in Boston we just go. When we need to cross we need to cross. Trucks and buses in both directions? Guess we’ll make a run for it. I believe cold as a bitch winters have to do with this. Suffering in frigid temperatures and disgustingly windy rainstorms for six months out of the year really gets our asses moving to the closest warm indoors (usually Dunks).
Upon first moving to Oakland one of the first adjustments I had to make was to slow down, slow my roll, as the saying goes. In Boston being a model pedestrian just isn’t on the agenda. ‘Roll-slowing,’ if you will, was a rocky start. Being mindful of other pedestrians’ behaviors was helpful, as with each street I crossed, I came to realize I was the only one standing four feet into the crosswalk. The occasional honk gave me a good idea that it was a ‘no-no’ in my new city. Looking both ways and darting isn’t even something I do anymore. In fact, I’ll probably (shamefully) be a timid pedestrian when I revisit Boston.
They are halfway through re-paving the intersection of Telegraph Ave. & 40th St., which means there are no painted crosswalks yet, only the reflective, sticky-uppy things serving as placeholders. While waiting longer than usual at the bus stop, I noticed that the lack of painted crosswalks has given way to temporary disregard for the well-followed rules by pedestrians and bicyclists, alike. Bicyclists lackadaisically weaved out into the middle of the lanes, as people on foot suprisingly crossed wherever they pleased. It was a bit of a circus, a block party of sorts. And that’s why that was all on my mind (aka I’m bored of this now).
