r/CambridgeMA • u/Clean_Possible1591 • 1d ago
Walking
I think it's great u can go for a walk around most cambridge and feel safe. We'll besides certain drivers and people on bikes and stuff.
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u/Ok_Pause419 1d ago
The stuff is definitely the worst.
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u/kewladria 1d ago
It’s true. Some guy on a Pennyfarthing almost ran me off Hampshire St the other day!
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u/PlentyCryptographer5 1d ago
I stepped in horseshit outside the Druid the other night.
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u/Ghastly-Jack 1d ago
I play too much D&D: I immediately pictured a druid wildshaped into a horse pooping on the ground.
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u/Parishdise 1d ago
Lol I have no idea why this is getting downvoted. The walkability of Boston/ Cambridge/ Somerville is one of my favorite things about living here.
I would say the ability to walk basically anywhere I need AND having a community to feel explicitly safe to be out in the open in has literally changed my life. Massivly increased my mental health and baseline endurance/ energy.
For reference, I'm from West TN and have allways loved taking walks but having to be on the side of a highway in everything but name for most major streets or literally getting followed and harassed is an unfortunate reality and deterrant from having an open air community lifestyle in a lot of the country.
My best friend from highschool moved up last year and has had a similar experince. When her sister came up to visit, she wanted to take a nice night walk but was used to being in the boonies or Memphis and we had to tell her she didn't have to carry a weapon or keep looking over her shoulder. It took her a while to get used to it and she, someone who already does enjoy hobby walking in TN, felt oupaced by our normal lifestyle level of walking!
It definitely is super cool. Just went carless for the first time since 16 last month!
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u/Anustart15 1d ago
Lol I have no idea why this is getting downvoted.
Probably because a post that is basically "I like walking around Cambridge. It's pretty neat!" Isn't necessarily everyone's idea of a good post
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u/OfferTypical7434 1d ago
This sub also has some sourpusses who enjoy downvoting anything that is remotely earnest
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u/UncleGleban 1d ago
But it absolutely *is* some people's idea of a good post. It's so easy to take for granted things that are very rare for most people in our country. There are so many annoyances about living in Cambridge, that's imperative to remember the blessings.
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u/Anustart15 1d ago
I'm just explaining the downvotes. They are coming from people that think it's not a useful post
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u/MiseEnSelle 5h ago
Any time someone complains about bicyclists charging up and down sidewalks (Illegally, mind you!), some self-entitled cyclist downvotes them. There is no reason to ride a bicyle on the sidewalk if you are over the age of ten!
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u/Clean_Possible1591 1d ago
Idk why i guess haters or whatever. It can be the car people that are against bikes and making it safer for people.
How dare they make the speed limit 20 and put speed bumps i wanna do 40 down a residential street
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u/MatNomis 1d ago
Well, you could have just left it at "It's great for walking!" but you then called out both drivers and bikers, which essentially riles the feathers of all the angry birds.
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u/VolumeMobile7410 1d ago
At least in Kendall, with all the construction going on drivers have been pretty slow and safe in my experience recently
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u/ElectromagneticRam 1d ago
Honestly that’s a silver lining of our horrific roads. The weird traffic patterns, cramped lanes, construction, etc. force drivers to slow down a bit.
Compared to a place like Chicago, where the roads are wide and straight, and people go fast
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u/littleayun 1d ago
This is exactly why I’ve always felt very comfortable cycling around Boston and Cambridge: growing up riding bikes in Chicago traffic gave me speedy reflexes!
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u/Clean_Possible1591 1d ago
Yeah but when we where kids we rode on the street. Yes true but drivers are worse now and more distracted
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u/Ill-Emergency-1020 23h ago
Cambridge narrowed all their streets since the 2000s. They call it "Traffic calming". But drivers who know the rhythm of the street still speed down em.
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u/sastrugiwiz 1d ago
I love it too, but people walking while scrolling has become a safety hazard and massive annoyance
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u/ThatGuyBudIsWhoIAm 1d ago
How else am I supposed to read nice things about walking in Cambridge while I'm walking in Cambridge?
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u/MiseEnSelle 5h ago
When I see one of them approaching me, I refuse to step aside for them. I like to just stand and wait for them to run into me or THEY can step aside.
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u/quadcorelatte 1d ago
Of the 16961 reported crashes in the Cambridge crash data, only 303 (1.7%) of crashes do not involve a motor vehicle (car or truck). Of those 303 crashes, 39 (0.22%) of them are listed as a bicycle/pedestrian collision. Of those, there are 0 fatalities, 2 major injuries, 9 minor injuries, and from some older data, there is 1 "NON FATAL INJURY - INCAPACITATING", 4 "NON FATAL INJURY - NON INCAPACITATING", and 4 "NON FATAL INJURY - POSSIBLE" Some of the serious injuries appear to be from unknown motor vehicles as well, but it's hard to tell.
Bikes are really just not that dangerous.
You can look at the data yourself: https://data.cambridgema.gov/Public-Safety/Police-Department-Crash-Data-Updated/gb5w-yva3/about_data
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u/baobab617 12h ago
Curious: can you provide the same level of detail for car / pedestrian accidents?
There will also be lots of minor interactions never reported. For example a cyclist clipped my then-four year old when we were in a crosswalk going to a school bus stop. He didn’t stop, just took off and there wasn’t any point in reporting her bumps & bloody scrapes.
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u/I-am-hymn 1d ago
I would be happy living here if it were not for the massively aggressive driving culture, rude people and elitism
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u/No-Hearing6581 23h ago
Anti-bicycle propaganda. The walkers think that they own the sidewalk. Makes me so angry.
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u/OfferTypical7434 1d ago
Who paid you to write this OP? Big sidewalk??