London has some infrastructure that makes walking super simple:
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| Image from The National Archives; photo displayed at the Design Museum. |
- Zebra crossings (that's ZEH-bra, not ZEE-bra): crosswalks where the pedestrian ALWAYS has the right-of-way. A city bus will stop for you if you even sneeze in the general direction of a zebra crossing.
- Location of crosswalks: they're not in the middle of a sprawling intersection. They're usually just a bit down the street, making it so you only have to look one way to cross a couple lanes of traffic. Which leads me to...
- Medians everywhere. You can cross half the street when it's safe, even if there are cars coming from the opposite direction. Saves you time and doesn't have to stop all of the traffic.
- Public subways: Not a New York subway (here that's the Underground or the Tube), nor a sandwich shop. A subway is simply an underground walkway. You find them crossing under the biggest, busiest traffic zones. Instead of waiting for four walk signals that aren't coordinated, you pop down a flight of stairs, walk along a hallway, usually adorned with eye-catching artwork or mosaics, then pop back up on the other side of the street. Only caveat is they aren't usually wheelchair-accessible unless they're built in conjunction with a Tube station. (Unfortunately that is a similar story around much of London, though that seems to be improving.)
- IDGAF attitudes about jaywalking: You cross at your own risk, but you can cross anywhere. If you're in someone's way, you will know immediately!
London has some cultural norms that can make walking super frustrating:
- There are millions of people.
- If anyone yields at all in a head-on approach situation, no one knows if they should veer left or right. You'd think it would follow the road rules (so, veer to the left; opposite of the states where we veer to the right). But my guess is there are too many immigrants for that to stick -- if half of London's residents default to veering right that means it's a crap shoot which way you should pick. Do a little dance. Continue on your way.
- It is apparently common to take up ALL OF THE SIDEWALK if you are walking with a friend. I don't know if they have personal bubble issues or what, but if there are two or more people, they will expand to block the entire sidewalk
- #3 is sometimes just one person on a cell phone who zig-zags unpredictably.
- Sometimes the sidewalks are only the size of a bloated curb.
Exhibit A: Ellen walking on the sidewalk.
Exhibit B: three people magically using up the entire space.
Exhibit C: London's parks are freakin' beautiful to walk through, especially right now!
