Sox, partial yay for a diagnosis?

What Typo Boy said WRT to zoning and such. I am amazed at the number of corner stores that used to exist in my neighborhood (you can tell b/c they literally have a door that opens onto the corner) and they are nearly all residential or vacant now, though that is likely more due to competition with Big Box grocery stores.

Relatedly, one of my favorite places in the city is being denied the permits it needs because of a lack of offstreet parking - the city said to just use some of the yard for the parking, when the whole reason people go there is for the ambiance of music in the yard. And the neighborhood overwhelmingly supports them.

The lack of neighborhoods is also related to the decline in fitness. People do a lot less walking when there's nothing to walk to.

One of the reasons I wanted to live within walking distance of town when we moved here was specifically because I didn't know if we would have two cars. I can walk two blocks into town for milk or bread or a pharmacy or the post office, and a not insignificant number of doctor's offices. If pressed, I could even walk to the supermarket, although how much I could carry home would be an issue. There are a lot of developments here (not to mention pricey, really rural older homes) where walking anywhere wouldn't be possible.

When I was a kid, we had neighborhood schools, at least for elementary school. I miss that. So many of Sara's friends live nowhere near us, certainly not in walking or biking distance.

I am amazed at the number of corner stores that used to exist in my neighborhood (you can tell b/c they literally have a door that opens onto the corner) and they are nearly all residential or vacant now,

Tons of these in my 'hood, and little in the way of active retail. (Though it is getting much better even in the past few years - gentrification ahoy.)

I don't want to think about how out of shape I would be if I didn't walk a lot as part of my normal life. I mean, I never exercise on purpose!

I hope you get some relief soon, Consuela.

We'll see--I'm clearly not suffering as much as you are, though. For me it's more that I get a constant drippy nose, and only get the headaches/pressure when it's really bad. But I've had two sinus infections since early December, which is way too frequent.

Right now I'm on Flonase, but I'm not seeing much change in the situation.

Of course there's been a big movement back towards towards urban density in recent years.

One of the reasons Portland OR became the awesome place it is, is that back in 1970 or so they passed an ordinance establishing a metropolitan boundary. Once they couldn't expand outwards anymore, they began to experiment with a lot more infill and mixed-use development. The end result is a ridiculously walkable city with good public transit and a lot of services built into the neighborhoods.

DC is looking at changing the zoning laws to allow local stores for food, etc. Ironically, some of the historic neighborhoods have a number of tiny grocery stores and so on and people will sign petitions if they're threatened. I stay in a less than optimal apartment largely because of the location - I can walk to the grocery, cleaner, etc. (Amy - I have what my mother and sister refer to contemptuously as a "granny cart" which lets me haul large amounts of stuff.)

There have been stories about schools where none of the kids walk to school, regardless of how close they live - there aren't any sidewalks or, in some cases, they'd have to get across a multi-lane road with fast traffic. Turns out some jurisdictions require that you have kids walking before they'll put in sidewalks, hire crossing guards and so forth.

I have what my mother and sister refer to contemptuously as a "granny cart" which lets me haul large amounts of stuff.

I see those all over my neighborhood - they're awesome.

I have what my mother and sister refer to contemptuously as a "granny cart" which lets me haul large amounts of stuff.

They have a new rule here that you have to remove your items and fold up your granny cart on the bus. Which is sort of difficult, as there is often no place to put the items. They also say it is the law, which seems excessive. I think there might be a regulation that aisles have to be free of stuff, but there are often people in the aisles, and if there is no place to put your stuff, you are stuck in the aisle holding bags, which seems dangerous as well.

I am also a little weirded out that you have to take infants out of their carriers and hold them in your lap. I would think they would have some sort of way to buckle the car seat in, like they do the wheelchairs.

I had multiple granny carts in NYC, but only for things within walking distance. Probably on a few occasions I took them on a subway, but never the bus. Carts on the bus are a nightmare.

They do make bags with wheels: [link] that would carry less, but would work better on a bus. Still, you are looking at only one bag of groceries. Which? nsm an issue in NYC where a daily commute would take you by multiple grocery stores, but more of one if the grocery store is a trip out of the way.

Today I did grocery shopping over lunch, but only for frozen meals to re-stock my options in the office fridge.