[Blindtlk] Walking on city streets with no sidewalks

[Jim Portillo]

Wow!  This sounds so familiar, Arielle.

I, too, am in Seattle, and I live in an area where one part of it does not
have sidewalks and the other part does.  Of course, the part that does have
the sidewalks is the one I don't need.  
In fact, a newspaper reporter did an article about the lack of sidewalks in
this neighborhood, and I was interviewed, and pictures were taken of me
walking along the street.  That must have been eight or nine years ago.
What Steve and Lloyd have told you is right on.  I mainly walk along the
edge of the street as well.  And, like you, I get well-intentioned people
ask if I need help.  That doesn't happen much any more, because I've been in
this area for years and people have gotten used to me and figure I know what
I'm doing.
In fact, one time, it was a disadvantage, because there was something going
on with that street, and I had no idea exactly what was going on or what to
do.  Nobody was around to help.  Eventually, I was able to get past that,
but that was one time when I did wish passers-by or neighbors had seen me.
Then again, maybe they were already used to me and figured I'd know what to
do.  Who knows?

Follow what Lloyd and Steve have said so far though.
And, as hard as it is to do, deal with the well-meaning folks as gracefully
as possible.  It'll be good in the long run.
Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle
Silverman via blindtlk
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2015 4:09 PM
To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Arielle Silverman
Subject: [Blindtlk] Walking on city streets with no sidewalks

Hi all. Just wanted to pick your brains regarding tips for traveling
effectively and staying oriented on streets that have no or inconsistent
sidewalks. There are some streets in my city that have no sidewalk and are
fairly quiet streets but they intersect a busy street. When I attended LCB I
got some good practice shorelining gutters on the edge of the road or seams
between the road and driveways. But here there are often seams that come and
go, or intermittent gravel patches, or rows of parked cars that come and go,
making it difficult for me to stay centered. Sometimes the parked cars also
make echolocation difficult. How do you stay straight?
Another related aggravation is that often do-gooders will freak out if I am
walking in the street even though it's my only option given the lack of
sidewalk. Especially if I veer a tiny bit away from the edge because of the
lack of consistent landmarks, people will get really concerned and keep
asking me if I need help or if I need a ride or admonishing me not to be in
the street like I'm an errant three-year-old. Even when I know my way, it
makes me feel uncomfortable about walking in the street because I feel like
I'm bringing all this attention on me and distracting and upsetting others
around me. How do you handle such reactions? These are quiet streets, so I
don't believe I am actually in danger (and if I hear a car coming I always
get as far to the side as I can), but because it's hard for me to keep a
straight line, sighted people don't know how to deal with me. What are your
thoughts about this?
One example: A bus stop I sometimes use is on a tiny patch of sidewalk with
grass on one side and a fenced driveway on the other. When I cross the
street to get to the stop, it's easy for me to miss the small sidewalk patch
and I have to walk up and down the block a little bit (without sidewalk) to
find it. I can usually find it fairly quickly, but one time as I was looking
for the stop, several people stopped their cars or got out of their cars
trying to help me find the stop (and some not even knowing there was a bus
stop there) just making everything a big mess. I ended up switching to a
further-away bus stop on sidewalk to avoid that problem, but I have to walk
through a sidewalk-less block to get there.
So, how do you stay oriented, and how do you placate the do-gooders and keep
them from becoming a distraction?

Best,
Arielle

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