How far away does a place have to be to make you drive there instead of walking?

[robanga]

Walking is for exercise and relaxation not for transportation in my estimate.

 

[EricNau]

I voted for 100 yards. Basically, anything that's not on my street; other than my neighbor's houses, there's nothing in the area worth walking to. Plus, the weather in my area is rarely hospitable to walking: it's either 100 F or raining.

However, I'm getting ready to move and my new location will be far more hospitable to walking and biking. In fact, I may not need a car at all.

 

[revenuee]

I said half a mile --- but it's circumstantial.

What's the parking situation? How much time do I have? What's the weather like?

On a lazy sunny Sunday I'll gladly walk > 6km one way to meet up with some people.

If it's raining and i'm pushing a deadline; I'll drive 50 m if it'll save me 5 minutes.

 

[0098386]

I wouldn't get home until 1AM on Monday nights if I tried that. Then I'd have to leave my house at 4:30AM to get to my Tuesday morning class. It may be 5 miles more by car, but 190 minutes less time.
I think I'll drive.
Public transit is out because RIPTA is stupid. 2h49m, which includes a one hour walk, and three buses.

Suppose it depends on where you're walking to. On the way back, the most fondest memories tell a tale of walking over a golf course up to Harts head pike (big lookout point). Then down into the villages and back up to home. It was pretty ace really.

and this was the view from the hill. Walking that 3 times a week my inspiration was blown. Incidentally I was mega chilled out at college did wonders and it's the most depressing part of working from home for me.

 

[XnavxeMiyyep]

I voted "Don't own a car!" because I don't own a car! My roommate and friends have cars, but I usually don't ask for rides unless I'm in a hurry.

For instance, a couple months ago, I walked my friend to my train station, then I walked to Home Depot, then to CVS, and then back to my apartment. I wondered why I was so tired and Google Maps showed that my trip was around 9 miles. So I guess 10 miles is my limit.

 

[GSMiller]

Living in rural America, there aren't many places you can walk to. If I go to a shopping center in the "city" I will usually park when I get there, walk to and from all the stores I want to visit, then when I'm finished I'll drive back home. The only exception to this is if I'm going to buy a lot of things at more than one store and can't park at a reasonable distance between the two.

I've always found it funny how people will get in their car, drive to a gym, work out, then drive back home. Ah, life in America

 

[mkrishnan]

I've always found it funny how people will get in their car, drive to a gym, work out, then drive back home. Ah, life in America

Aside from the excess damage to the environment, though, this is not purely so silly. Especially for those of us who exercise regularly, some of us have to be careful to not expend too much energy in things that wear us out but don't provide the kind of training we want... I walk a lot (to get places) and i run (as a sport / fitness), but I'm wary that my walking doesn't get in the way of my running, because at this point in my training, walking an extra ten miles doesn't really provide me any benefit in physical training, whereas running hard for one or two miles does.

 

[TheMonarch]

I commute to school by train, but the train station is just under a mile away [Possibly 3/4ths]... So I drive there

2 main reasons:
I wake up at 6am for an 8am class. Why wake up earlier than that just to walk.
The last thing I want to be is all sweaty and sticky in a packed train or in class.

 

[hexonxonx]

Though I have walked about a mile each way to drop off a car to have repaired, I prefer to be the lazy slob that I am and drive. Convenience store is two blocks away, I drive. That's the way I like it!

 

[GradientMac]

I walk 8 KM to work and back every day... [4km there, 4km back.]

It's really not that bad.

 

[DigiCatRedux]

Depends on the outside conditions more for me than just distance alone... I could walk a few miles during a nice hike in a shaded forest pathway - same distance down city streets in a downpour? I'm taking the Car.

 

[Schtumple]

I'll admit, yesterday, whilst in London, I took a taxi from the front of the Natural History Museum to Hyde Park (about 3 streets away), cost £3.60! I felt very silly considering I only just put my seatbelt on, then we had to get out...

 

[mixmacface]

at university, i don't have a car, so i'm stuck walking everywhere. . it hasn't been too bad, but i can't go buy groceries without a car. . just not that. . strong.

 

[sushi]

This thread reminds me of the scene in, "The Gods Must Be Crazy", where the housewife, in curlers, use the car to ... check the mail box across the street. Funny scene.