Pleasantly surprised
The bad thing about our old neighborhood is that it was builder designed: very cookie-cutter, planned out, and redundant. Everything looked the same. It was boring.
The good thing about our old neighborhood is that it was builder designed: it was consistent, there were sidewalks everywhere, and the street layout made sense.
Whenever I could, I ran on the sidewalk in our old neighborhood. It just felt safe AND courteous (to cars) to me. I became very familiar with the streets via the sidewalks (and what houses park over their cars over driveway all the time…).
Our rental neighborhood is around a lake. The streets, yes, wrap around the lake. The houses are all different. Only one side of the neighborhood has sidewalks.
I was nervous about running on the streets in the rental neighborhood. I don’t want to be a nuisance, the streets are narrow (no shoulder), and I don’t trust people to be paying attention to see me, despite how colorfully dressed/lit up I am.
But you know what? I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Most cars coming my way have gone halfway in to the other lane if not all the way over, and many slow down, too.
It’s nice.
I always make sure to smile or nod and wave.
This neighborhood is probably a good transition between now and our final destination – a dead end street with no sidewalks off a country road!
Themocracy
That is good people are cautious. I have several streets around here like that. Folks here are funny, they will often stay inches close to me even though there isn’t another car in sight…it bothers me. Hopefully on your country road traffic won’t be to heavy.
Ugh, I don’t like hearing that. It’s so unnecessary 🙁 And scary.
That’s great! I don’t worry too much in my neighborhood and I’m always in the street, not on the sidewalk. It’s also very early when I run and that helps. Enjoy!
Yeah, I try to go out a non-peak times!
Are you a runner that always prefers street over sidewalk, due to the surface material? 🙂
I think it’s more of an uneven surface, cracks, and up and down over curbs issue. I prefer the smoothness of the pavement.
Ahh, got it! And I prefer the flatness over the camber of the road (by the end of winter, my right hip is all “WTF!” from running in the roads so much). But then again, I lived in a newish neighborhood that had nice even sidewalks except for a few spots – and I knew where all those spots were!
When we lived in Champaign our neighborhood didn’t have many sidewalks and the drivers were not nearly as courteous on the country roads! I did my best to find routes that did have sidewalks after a lady yelled at me that I was running on the wrong side of the road (I wasn’t. I was running against traffic like you’re supposed to). I’m happy to hear that the drivers you’re encountering are much nicer! Maybe they’re runners, too!
Gah, that stinks. I just wish people would share the roads, everywhere. It’s really interesting to hear about parts of the country where people are friendly to cyclists and runners, and where they have a reputation for NOT being friendly 🙁
Obviously sidewalks aren’t a problem here in Chicago, but whenever I go home and run there, I get a little nervous the first time I head on on the streets (my parents’ house is solidly in the country, and I don’t think anyone would ever even consider the idea of sidewalks that far out.) Drivers out there are SUPER great 99% of the time, though. If it’s possible, they usually give me tons of clearance. Plus it’s quiet enough that I can hear them coming from a long way away, and I can hear if another car is coming up behind me (meaning the car coming towards me wouldn’t be able to move into their lane). I also always try to jump off onto the shoulder/grass/dirt/whatever’s on the side of the road to give the driver a little more peace of mind. And get in some “trail” running 😛
Yay! I am happy they are courteous there too. Good point on being able to hear them from behind you – I can out here, even with headphones on (softly) and didn’t think about the fact that that might not always be the case!
Ha! I know what you mean about shoulder/trail running! It was in the snow for me yesterday!
That’s great that people have been so nice. Where I run I rarely have sidewalks and sooo many drivers are distracted on their phones, they don’t slow or move over one bit. I totally get off the road when there are cars. Thankfully my routes only involve maybe a quarter mile of that kind of traffic.
That is what I was surprised with out here – that people aren’t that distracted and actually see me! I hope that changes where you live 🙁
Oh good, I’m glad you’re not running in some dangerous area full of asshole drivers! It’s nice to be pleasantly surprised by people, isn’t it? I wish it would happen more often. :-/
Do you think you’ll have to change your running routine a lot at the new place?
It IS nice! And I wish it happened more often, too. Let’s make sure we share it with each other, when it does! 🙂
Yes, I really will! It’s a dead-end road surrounded by country roads and no neighborhoods to snake through!
Nice to hear that people are courteous when it comes to keeping you safe out running.