# What do you consider "walking distance" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182 "2010-09-09T14:59:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/61 "2010-09-10T05:18:38Z")
I put .5 to 1 mile, but it’s an average. In good weather I consider anything I can walk to in an hour or less walking distance (3½-4 miles). In the winter I don’t want to be more than half a block from some kind of shelter. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/62 "2010-09-10T05:22:03Z")
I walk just as much in winter as in summer - all you need is a good pair of boots and multiple layers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/63 "2010-09-10T05:23:23Z")
> [@sevenwood](#): > > I regularly walk golf courses. That’s about five miles after you’ve added the walk from each green to the next tee (and a few trips into the woods to track down errant shots). Over about four hours, of course, so it’s not one long steady walk. > > I’ll also walk the two miles from the nearby “Tires Plus” store after I drop the car off to be serviced. > > On the other hand, I drive the one mile trip and the one mile back when I go to the gym each day… > > I’m 62. I drive to the gym, too, and it’s even less than a mile. But it’s a very unpleasant mile down a busy street with a narrow sidewalk that’s too close to the traffic. Or, if I walk out of the way to avoid that, then it’s more like two miles. But also, on the way out of the gym it takes everything I’ve got left to get up the stairs from the locker room. I really wouldn’t have another couple of miles in me. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/64 "2010-09-10T06:16:19Z")
Since I started running, my walking distance threshold has gotten considerably longer. At least twice in the last couple weeks, I’ve walked to Walgreen’s near my house which is about 2.5 miles roundtrip. Not far at all really. I stopped driving there unless I’m in a hurry or will be carrying a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/65 "2010-09-10T06:22:07Z")
Hey, where’s the good old “you left out”…? Because you left out “depends”. In good weather (10C-35C), with decent sidewalks… over 1.5 miles; my idea of “a nice walk” is about 3h walking. Last winter in Scotland? The convenience store in the next building, and I went cursing all the way! In South Miami, with no sidewalks? I walked about 50 yards to the uni and maybe half a mile to the supermarket, but at low-traffic hours. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/66 "2010-09-10T06:28:52Z")
its 1 kilometer to my moms house. I walk that without much thought. It takes about 2-3 minutes tops. I generally dont get one song play on my MP3 player. I walk very fast. The supermarket is 2.6 km away and thats about as far as I want to walk. I’m fat and lazy and dont exercise much so these trips are sporadic. I had a job a few years ago where I walked 10 km a day with stops every few feet and I could complete that circuit in about 3 hours(with a good deal of screwing around). The biggest delay was waiting to cross streets/waiting on traffic, and if I started early morning I could finish even faster. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/67 "2010-09-10T06:36:50Z")
I walk around 40 minutes to work and the same back every day (I’m 55 and not particularly fit). If it’s cold or raining I don suitable gear. If I’m carrying extra stuff or I’ll need to shop I put on a backpack. I get my exercise and my commute done in the same time package and when I get home my time is my own, and there are no gym fees or transport fares or car costs. I would simply never choose to live where that wasn’t possible. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/68 "2010-09-10T06:37:27Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > “Walking distance” means a distance that you would readily walk _even when_ other transport options are available. Obviously pretty much everybody is _able_ to walk much longer distances in extremis. This. I live 35 minutes’ walk from the city centre and about 40 from the train station (I walk fast - about 3.5-4mph). When the weather’s good and I don’t have a lot of stuff to carry then I choose to walk it. So for me up to 3 miles. But I do know that’s unusual. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/69 "2010-09-10T06:50:56Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > I’m having a hard time reconciling the results of this poll with those of the [fat poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=577629). Nah, its reasonable. Walking probably doesnt make you skinny, and endurance for a walk seems to have more to do with personality than size. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/70 "2010-09-10T07:14:53Z")
I would say 1 - 1.5 miles, in most circumstances. If it’s a lazy day and I’m not in a hurry, 3-4 miles is reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/71 "2010-09-10T08:48:24Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > > [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](#): > > > > I was on honeymoon in San Francisco, staying at Fisherman’s Wharf. I remember asking directions to get to the stadium for a baseball game. The person I asked was aghast at the thought that we wanted to _walk_ there. > > That _should_ be a great recreational walk–two and a half miles or so each way, entirely along the waterfront. But I wonder how much fun it actually is, how well the cityscape actually supports it; I see some spots in the streetviews where it’s not clear where pedestrians are supposed or able to be, relative to the Embarcadero Freeway. > > ETA: Unless you were there in the days of Candlestick Park. _That_ would be something of a trek. It was May 2005. Don’t remember the name of the stadium. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/72 "2010-09-10T08:54:48Z")
> [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > its 1 kilometer to my moms house. I walk that without much thought. It takes about 2-3 minutes tops. I generally dont get one song play on my MP3 player. I walk very fast. You must walk very very fast, cos 1k in 3 minutes is 20k/h (12.5 miles per hour). In my book, that’s running! ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/73 "2010-09-10T12:29:50Z")
Put it this way - if I were buying a house, and the seller said that it was “walking distance” from a train station, and it turned out to be 1 mile from the station, I’d be a bit pissed off. I can and often do walk that kind of distance, but to me the phrase implies a 5 or 10 minute walk, which equates to somewhere between a quarter of a mile and half a mile. I don’t want to spend 40 minutes every day walking to and from the station. So for me, “walking distance” would be a maximum of about half a mile, or 800m. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/74 "2010-09-10T15:43:48Z")
> [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](#): > > You must walk very very fast, cos 1k in 3 minutes is 20k/h (12.5 miles per hour). In my book, that’s running! Yipes. That’s a 4:50 minutes per mile pace. The men’s mile walking record is around 5:35. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/75 "2010-09-10T22:42:29Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Put it this way - if I were buying a house, and the seller said that it was “walking distance” from a train station, and it turned out to be 1 mile from the station, I’d be a bit pissed off. I can and often do walk that kind of distance, but to me the phrase implies a 5 or 10 minute walk, which equates to somewhere between a quarter of a mile and half a mile. I don’t want to spend 40 minutes every day walking to and from the station. So for me, “walking distance” would be a maximum of about half a mile, or 800m. Yeah, this. I can walk much longer distances, but I don’t want to, especially not carrying things. Right now, I have extensor tendinitis in my right foot, and it’s not going to heal if I walk around on it a lot, so a couple blocks is my current limit before I head for my car. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/76 "2010-09-10T23:43:48Z")
I regularly walk 4 miles to my office and 5 to my dentist, but that is for the exercise and I don’t consider it “walking distance”. A mile, give or take, is the distance I usually wouldn’t consider not walking (unless the weather’s lousy). Even when I take the train to my office, it is still a half mile to the station and then a half mile to my office. And I always come home that way, so I get a couple miles doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/77 "2010-09-10T23:58:25Z")
> [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > > [@spark240](#): > > > > I’m having a hard time reconciling the results of this poll with those of the [fat poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=577629). > > Nah, its reasonable. Walking probably doesnt make you skinny, and endurance for a walk seems to have more to do with personality than size. I’d have to agree with this. Walking can make you skinny, but it takes A LOT of walking. I would suggest that people who do walk a decent amount regularly are in better shape than those who don’t walk at all, but walking two miles a day isn’t going to get you in marathoner shape or anything. On the other hand, most people can go for a good walk regardless of the shape they’re in; it’s an excellent exercise for almost everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/78 "2010-09-11T00:02:48Z")
The majority of people were underweight, within BMI or close to it. Not seeing why its hard to reconcile. Edit: Also this poll didnt ask how often people are doing the walking distance in question. Otara ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/79 "2010-09-11T03:00:40Z")
> [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](#): > > > [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > > > its 1 kilometer to my moms house. I walk that without much thought. It takes about 2-3 minutes tops. I generally dont get one song play on my MP3 player. I walk very fast. > > You must walk very very fast, cos 1k in 3 minutes is 20k/h (12.5 miles per hour). In my book, that’s running! Good point. Now I NEED to know. I do walk VERY fast, faster than my sister runs. I used google distance(with google maps) to lay out the course I walk and it is indeed 0.65 miles. Maybe I better time it? But in my old job my boss used to get annoyed because I was seemingly done so fast. He drove around watching me a few times though. Now I am inspired. I am going to go walk it and film the walk. Its kinda dark and I am curious how well my android phone will record. I think I’ll post the video if it looks ok. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182/80 "2010-09-11T03:27:21Z")
I’m back. I was wrong, wrong wrong. It took me 9.5 minutes there and 10 back. The video didnt turn out. It was all black with the occasional wiggly street light. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-walking-distance/553182.md?page=5)