Yes, I did it... I walked to Starbucks this morning... and I will admit I felt like a bit of a freak doing it.
A couple of years ago I sold my house and moved to a condo in the Uptown/Turtle Creek section of Dallas. I was tired of the responsibilities that a house brought with it and longed for a less personally responsible lifestyle like I had when I lived in my co-op in New York City a few years prior. I missed the urbanism (which does not exist in Dallas) and decide that Uptown was close enough and that I would see how I liked it. For over two years now though, while I do not miss mowing grass or pruning trees or treating fire ant mounds, something else was missing... it was the lack of freedom from the car.
Dallas is a car city. We drive EVERYWHERE... whether we need to or not, and what I have discovered lately is that there are a lot more times that I don't need to drive that I do simply out of habit. Within a half mile of the front door of my building there are restaurants, supermarkets, bookstores, coffee shops, bars and parks... and I have driven to all of them. I have wasted gasoline, avoided passive exercise and just been generally lazy. Hi, my name is Steve and I am a car-aholic!
The ironic thing that I learned on my 4 block walk to Starbucks today is that people in Dallas don't know what to make of a person walking on the streets who is not clearly en route from a car to a store or vice versa. The looks I got from people in their cars as I walked along Oak Lawn Avenue this morning seemed to imply things like "Hey, where's your car? Don't you own one?" or "What's that strange back and forth motion you are making with your legs to propel you?"
And to those people I answer "It's called walking. Get used to it because my $4.00 coffee at Starbucks tasted a whole lot better knowing that it wasn't a $4.50 cup of coffee when I factor in the $3.80/gallon cost of gasoline it usually includes to get to and from Starbucks!"
Are you looking to save gasoline by moving and cutting down your reliance on a car? As gasoline prices rise, the savings by reducing your reliance on gasoline for commuting, getting out in the evenings or just being able to walk to Starbucks for your morning coffee could make owning your own home Uptown, Downtown, Addison Circle, Victory Park or other area with easy access to DART Rail or other public transportation more financially rewarding than ever! Contact me today and let me help you explore the home ownership options that make the most sense for your personal lifestyle needs!
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