I've been without my car for the last week due to not one, but both water pumps leaking and needing replacement. That's a $2k+ problem to fix, and necessary if I'd like to keep driving my car. As much as I'd love to walk everywhere all the time, this area just isn't built for walking.
Car or no car, I wanted to get out of the house for a change in working environments, and chose, as I often do, a nearby coffee shop with perhaps the best drip in the DFW area: The Native Coffee Company.
I could have taken the bus to get across town, but my wife is much sweeter than I deserve and offered to drive me. I took the opportunity to spend a few moments riding with her across town so I could get a few hours of work done. And instead of her having to repeat this trip on my way home, I decided to walk across town to go back home.
Walking vs. driving places gives you a much different perspective of an area. For example, while road obstacles blocking the whole road are rarely a thing for drivers, obstacles blocking pedestrian paths are a common occurrence.
Construction on this building has been ongoing for several weeks now, and the sidewalk has been inaccessible for just as long. It's not that big of a deal for me as I can just walk around it, but I'm not sure what one does if confined to a wheelchair.
About a quarter mile in I made the decision to take off my sandals (Lunas with a leather footbed and tire soles that I don't even think they make anymore), and go barefoot. Why? Because.
Walking through the middle of Farmers Branch is mostly enjoyable, aside from a few spots where pedestrian routes are just a little too close to the roads for comfort.
A new detention pond built at Alpha Rd and Bella Ln is devoid of diverse plant life. For some reason likely due primarily to history and because Farmers Branch seems in many cases unable to update best-practice guidelines since the 1980s, this is the design they went with. I'd love to see this detention pond retrofit to a natural ecosystem.
What else? Just questionable pedestrian pathways along streets sprinkled with cars.
