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Members of Walkable Arlington ride their bikes Oct. 9 across the Central Library mall. The student-led group\u2019s goal is to give people access to better public transportation.<\/p>\n
Photo by Emmanuel PIzano<\/a><\/p>\n Getting around without a car can be intimidating for many people, but the members of Walkable Arlington have adjusted to minimal car use, promoting the benefits of prioritizing time outside.<\/p>\n Last week, the group participated in a national campaign called Week Without Driving, which raises awareness about barriers non-drivers face when navigating their communities. According to the campaign\u2019s website, about a third of people living in America don\u2019t drive.<\/p>\n Walkable Arlington adviser Morgan Chivers said that everyone should try to experience what it\u2019s like to get around without a car to build empathy for people who navigate their community without driving.<\/p>\n Chivers said there are many reasons why someone may not drive, including environmental reasons, health reasons, legal reasons and other circumstances.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat should be a baseline of a good society is one that makes it possible for people to get around safely, without having to expect everyone to own and operate their own private motor vehicle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n According to a map made by the Parking Reform Network, about 26% of central Arlington is taken up by parking lots. Chivers said this is a waste of space that isn\u2019t pleasant for people to walk through.<\/p>\n \u201cSlowly, the city is changing, but it is only changing because of pressure,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are part of that pressure to get the city designers and the city politicians and that whole bureaucracy of the city to move toward making things that are designed more human-scaled.\u201d<\/p>\n Chivers said some ways to make the city more walkable is by planting native plants that provide shade, making sidewalks comfortable to walk on by expanding the space they take up and making use of the available land in a way that promotes walkability.<\/p>\n Walkable Arlington President Liam Crowley said walkable cities create opportunities for building communities that aren\u2019t possible when relying solely on driving.<\/p>\n Crowley said he bikes about 40 to 100 miles a week and has been biking consistently for around five years. He said he has found the experience of relying on biking gainful and enjoys the freedom it offers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a simpler way to live,\u201d Crowley said. \u201cI feel more connected to nature. I feel more connected to my community, just being around other people.\u201d<\/p>\n Chivers said relying on transportation methods other than cars organically encourages connection between people, which he saidis something that makes life\u00a0worth living.<\/p>\n Chivers brought up an example of walking through a neighborhood when a fruit tree caught his attention. He said he paused to appreciate the way the light caught on the fruit when the\u00a0owner walked out and offered him a piece.<\/p>\n Civil engineering sophomore Cooper Lantrip sets his bike in a bike rack Oct. 9 on the Central Library mall. Walkable Arlington has community bike rides every Friday except the last week of the month.<\/p>\n Photo by Emmanuel Pizano<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt was this nice sharing experience, which you certainly would not have in a car if you\u2019re like windows up and in this little cocoon you just drive by,\u201d he said. \u201cYou certainly aren\u2019t having that type of human-to-human interaction and connection.\u201d<\/p>\n Crowley had a similar experience when dropping something off for a friend on his bike. He stopped at a traffic light when another biker stopped next to him and struck up\u00a0a conversation.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I was stuck in a car, I never would talk to the person next to me,\u201d Crowley said. \u201cIt\u2019s all these small things, like, oh wow, there\u2019s somebody else who also likes to ride their bike to UTA campus.\u201d<\/p>\n Walkable Arlington treasurer Brooklynn Nguyen said he has also found spontaneous community when getting around without a car. Nguyen recognized an old friend on a train and reconnected with her.<\/p>\n \u201cWe took a photograph together because that\u2019s kind of a neat<\/p>\n thing that happens when you take public transportation and when you walk around,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople that you know, you might run into them just out and about, but the likelihood of you doing that in a car is significantly lower.\u201d<\/p>\n Chivers said that even if people are not aware of it, humans need meaningful connections as a part of their daily life. He said it\u2019s important to seek out opportunities to build community in person because isolation is becoming more common with the world increasingly dependent on screens.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just this vicious loop of unpleasant experiences that is a world I don\u2019t really think anyone wants to be part of,\u201d Chivers said. \u201cPeople do it for a sense of duty or economic necessity. But I think we should be trying to build the world that we want to live in, and that world is human-scaled.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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