I’ve recently had a career change that’s allowed me to work very close to home. 1.1 miles from my house. It’s so close I can walk to work. And I have.
Walking to my office was healthy and enjoyable. It made me feel like I lived in a city – but with more trees and less urine smell. It had me wondering how nice it would be if I could (and more people could) walk to work everyday. It’s how I imagine the days of Mad Men to be… err was… walking past the local grocer, stoping to get a shoe shine, saying hello to strangers you see every day.
Sure my walk isn’t quite the same. After all it’s a suburban, tree lined street. But I did get to wave to a few strangers. And maybe if I walk more often they’ll start to recognize me and say hello as I pass.
The other benefit is my daughter knows I work close. So she often asks mommy to drive her up for a visit. And I imagine in the future I’ll get a visit from her when she walks or rides her bike to see me. And it’ll be nice when I’m able to run home for a quick lunch with her.
There’s definitely benefits to working close to home. And it’s a feature of city living that the suburbs don’t offer – except in the rare case such as mine.
