Poll: Sidewalks

[nabailey]

I've lived in a bunch of other states, and have noticed that many of the suburbs in Virginia seem to be lacking sidewalks. I grew up in a town with sidewalks everywhere, and liked not having to walk in the middle of the road as a kid!

DH and I are hoping to buy a place in the next year or two, and with a baby on the way were searching out some family friendly areas accesible to DC.

So, just wondering......


1) Are there sidewalks where you live?

2) Where do you live? (if you're uncomfortable sharing, it doesn't have to be specific....)


TIA

[nabailey]

I'll answer myself:

1) Yes, that's particularly why we moved here.

2) Park Fairfax in Alexandria, VA

[Anonymous]

1) Yes, my block does not have sidewalks (odd) but the rest of the streets in the area do.

2) Northwest DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1) Yes, my block does not have sidewalks (odd) but the rest of the streets in the area do.

2) Northwest DC

Sorry, 2 above should be AU Park

[Anonymous]

We live in Reston, VA. The area is filled with both sidewalks and trails (for walking/running/biking).

[Anonymous]

1. We don't have sidewalks, and really wish we did. When we bought our home (pre-children), we loved the pseudo-country feel of the neighborhood and didn't give the lack of sidewalks and our ski-slope of a driveway any thought. In hindsight, I really regret that decision. Our kids have nowhere to safely ride their bikes close to home.

2. Oakton, VA -- love, love, love everything else about our neighborhood and area, just didn't think through the sidewalk/drvieway thing. Silly us!

[nabailey]

I had heard somewhere that some parts of Virginia do not have sidewalks for that particular reason - to maintain a more rural/country feel to the area. I wonder if that's true.

However, I have two friends who live in Maryland, one in Silver Spring, who don't have sidewalks in their neighborhoods either.

It seems uncommon in some areas to even have kids who walk to school - they're all bussed in.

[Anonymous]

(1) Yes.

(2) Takoma Park, MD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:(1) Yes.

(2) Takoma Park, MD.

Odd that you mentioned Takoma Park because one of the reason we did not look at houses in Takoma Park is becasue they were no sidewalks in the areas that we drove through when we were compile a list of places to live. Can you say where in Takoma Park you live?

[nabailey]

I've noticed that in some areas, there are only sidewalks for the main streets. The side streets have none.
Maybe that's the case in Takoma Park?

[Anonymous]

I live in the Mount Vernon area and a lot (though definitely not all) of those neighborhoods have sidewalks.

[ipsabio]

Yes. We live in Mclean. But ... there are parts that do not have sidewalks. Luckily, around us there are more than enough to enjoy plus lots of great side streets and out-of-the-way places for my toddler to learn to ride a bike.

[Anonymous]

I too live in Oakton but we're more on the Vienna side of Oakton, not in the woodsy Hunter Mill part of it, so we have lots of sidewalks and parks within walking distance. I love our neighborhood!

[Anonymous]

Bannockburn section of Bethesda, which has sidewalks. Love, love, love it: great pool and community center in walking distance, lots of old-school community activities (like Halloween parades, cookouts, etc.), and Glen Echo National Park is at the end of our neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

South Arlington--near Pentagon/Crystal city--sidewalks, but they can be bumpy. Some blocks only have them on one side of the street, but that's ok. Fair amount of kids, usually there are other kids at the parks.
I think older neighborhoods are generally more likely to have sidewalks--and very new ones, because people want them. For a while developers didn't bother because of cost, and local govts in some areas didn't require them...
We're house hunting outside the area now and sidewalks are definitely part of our neighborhood criteria.