I grew up in a row house in the Baltimore suburbs. My elementary school was about a quarter of a mile away and I had to cross 2 streets, neither of which was a major thoroughfare. There were a gazillion kids in the neighborhood, so there was always someone to walk with. And regardless of the weather, we walked - way back in those days, most families had one car, which Dad took to work.
My junior high was about a mile and a quarter away, and anyone farther than a mile out got to ride the bus. Senior high was a mile and a quarter in the other direction, so I rode the bus there also, altho I often walked home because of extracurricular activities. The bus stops for each of these schools were maybe a block or two from our house.
The first college I attended was just over 3 miles from home, and mostly I rode my bike. Couldn’t afford a car because I was paying for college, altho my best friend had a '62 Falcon and she’d often give me a lift if our schedules coincided.
However, at Purdue, I did literally walk uphill both ways. I lived in Lafayette, and the university is in West Lafayette, across the Wabash River - about 2 anna half miles. I had a car part of the time I was there, but mostly it was bike or walk. And, yes, sometimes in the snow.
About a mile. I had to walk through a field that had a paved, fenced walking path. I can remember one morning when it was extremely foggy and actual rain drops were forming inside the fog.
The only school I walked to from home was 4th and 5th grade. Google tells me that there was a route that’s 1.1 miles, but the route I took was 1.3 miles, I think because Mom figured I’d be safer on a more major street. I’d have crossed about 10 streets, but only two major enough to have a traffic light. It was all basically level, no hills worth mentioning.
In college and grad school, I also mostly walked, or sometimes biked, but I was living on campus, so that hardly counts.
From Kindergarten through 3rd Grade, I walked (or rode a bike) about 0.4 miles, with one sort of busy street to cross, with the assistance of a crossing guard. In 1969-73, there were tons of kids so it was safe, and fun.
Starting in 4th grade, through 8th, I got bused to the other end of town, which was about 3.5 miles.
I moved to the center of town just before High School, which was about 1 mile away, on the same road as I lived on. So I often walked in the road with my thumb out, and would get picked up by friends (sometimes strangers) going by.
It was all pretty level (so no uphill), and while we did have snow (suburban NJ) it wasn’t an issue. But my hair often froze, as I was freshly-showered and too vain to wear a hat over my wet hair.
And I had my own shoes, so I didn’t have to fight my sibs (addressing a variation I’ve heard on the joke in the thread title)
No snow here. I did have to walk to school (about 5 miles) in a desert climate, which, I’d argue, is much worse. Though at the time I was used to it so hardly noticed.
College I road a bike (couldn’t afford a car) about 10 miles to school. Again, in a desert climate.
Spend most of my school years in southern NM, so can’t lie about the snow, but the heat, oh boy.
1-2 was bus, and about 1/2 a mile to the the bus pickup, but all over dirt roads in the farming area I lived at the time. 3-4 was also bus, but only 1/4 mile to where I got on the bus by cutting across a street and slipping past a fence (not my designated point but the driver didn’t care).
5-6th grade was about 1/3 mile walk on the shoulder of a residential road, which had plenty of kids on it.
7-8 in Junior High SUCKED. I was juuuuust far enough to not do the bus, but it was a solid mile, mile and a half over many different residential roads. I normally road my bike, but it was a pain as it was uphill both ways, at least in parts. And it was harder to cut through the shortcuts (some dangerous) on a bike, so sometimes it was on foot. As I got older I would try to bum a ride to school with my dad who was on his way to work and just walk home.
High school was back to bussing, as it was more than 4 miles away, but I had lots of older friends who had cars or older siblings with cars, so I often bummed a ride home.
Junior high and high school were about three miles away, I usually rode my bike. My parents might give me a ride if it was raining, or sometimes I would take the bus.
College I lived a couple miles away, usually biked but sometimes walked.
The worst was actually medical school. I often had to get to the hospital very early, before the buses started running. If there was a big snowstorm (not unusual) the roads wouldn’t be bikable, so that was the time I literally had no other option than to walk a couple miles each way in the snow (and the dark!).
I went to a small-town elementary school, and everyone walked, from 1st grade through 6th. To school in the morning, back home for lunch served by stay-at-home Mom (the school did not serve lunch), back to school and then back home again. (This was the late 50s-early 60s.) For me it was two blocks one way and two blocks the other, maybe a half-mile, but some kids had to walk all the way to the town’s farthest reaches, a mile or more, 4 times a day, rain, snow or shine. And you had to hustle - we only got one hour for lunch. Some parents gave rides, but most kids just walked. There were some busy streets too. I was a school safety patrol, stopping traffic with a flag that said “Please Stop” attached to a pole. Most people did. Sometimes people didn’t.
The school did not offer physical education, but there were no overweight kids in our school except for a few who lived close by.
Grade school - we lived behind the school, so basically the width of the parking lot/playground. Normally walked, but one day during a blizzard (when the farm kids were getting picked up by their parents because the buses were cancelled), I was surprised to see my dad at the classroom door. The storm was so bad that mom didn’t think we could make it home. And, in fact, my younger brother and a friend attempted to walk home, got turned around in the parking lot and ended up back at the school.
High school was three blocks away, walked. No hills, southern Minnesota in the middle of possibly the flattest part of the country.
Dang! I’m assuming it was a sparsely populated area.
My husband went to school in the Detroit suburbs, and he had the same problem!
What prompted this thread was being caught behind a school bus that seemed to stop at ever other driveway. I live in a largely rural county with almost no sidewalks - I’m guessing that’s why they don’t require the kids to walk to a common spot. The ones that kill me, tho, are the parents who drive their kids allllllllll the way down their 100’ driveway and wait with them or wait for them, even on perfectly lovely, mild days. Boggles the mind, it does!
It was a couple of miles to my high school. There was a valley in between that was created by Chester Creek. We lived on one side of that and the school was on the other side, but at a higher elevation. I walked it every day until I finally got my license, and yes, it was uphill (and down) each way, and we usually had eight months of winter in Anchorage. I refused to ride the bus.
After school I had a paper route that was all up and down the hills in our neighborhood, covering about five miles. It was nasty in the winter and I gave it up after a year.
Elementary school was on the same street we lived on, just a block up.
High school was at least a couple of miles. I think I normally took a city bus, though I suppose I might have walked if the weather was nice.
First year university I still lived at home and took bus and subway to school. After that I moved away and went to a different school in another town. That was about the time I got my own car (the quintessential young person’s first car back then, a Volkswagen Beetle).
