Magazine's worst walking city ranking undeserved

When a colleague of mine forwarded an e-mail alert about the American Podiatric Medical Association and Prevention magazine rating Mount Pleasant as the fifth worst "walking city" in the United States out of 500 cities, I initially scoffed.

I could think of other cities even within the Charleston metropolitan area that were worse, but I won't name names. When I clicked on the list of the 10 worst places, it didn't include some cities that I know are worse for walking than Mount Pleasant. What about Charlotte, Atlanta or the other Charleston, the one in West Virginia?

Even when the survey revealed the statistics used to rank the cities — with heavy weightings on the number of people who walked to work and the amount of green space, medium weights on pedestrian fatalities, use of mass transit and cars per household and more — it still was among the most absurd rankings I've seen in recent years.

If this were about bicycling, I'd be more apt to agree. But walking?

Where is the most obvious place in all of Charleston for people to come and walk? The Mount Pleasant side of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.

Less obvious to those "from off" are the Old Village of Mount Pleasant, the old Pitt Street Bridge, the Patriots Point nature trail, the Mathis Ferry walkway, Palmetto Islands County Park, a paved footpath to Sullivan's Island, a 400-meter track adjacent to the Mount Pleasant Municipal Complex and the massive park and trail system at Park West, where, by the way, the town is building a rubberized track.

As another colleague, Prentiss Findlay, wrote in a story about the ranking in last Friday's paper, Mount Pleasant also has several other walker-friendly projects in the works, such as its new 22-acre waterfront park, another waterfront park on Shem Creek, a sidewalk on U.S. Highway 17 from the Isle of Palms connector to Wando High School, and major makeovers of Coleman and Johnnie Dodds boulevards.

I think Prevention and the podiatric association goofed. Hey, it's OK, we all do.

Some might say that living in a place such as Mount Pleasant requires you to drive somewhere, to burn expensive

and dirty fossil fuel, in order to take a walk. I contend otherwise. The fact remains that walking, like running, is so versatile that most of us are limited only by our creativity and will. Many of us are too lazy to walk.

My neighborhood is too small for twice-daily walks and/or runs with my Jack Russell terrier, Ozzie. So I venture in all directions beyond the periphery, behind supermarkets, shopping centers, through apartment parking lots and nearby subdivisions, and down a utility easement that some people call a "greenway." That might sound unappealing, but I find it to be satisfying.

Each walk presents a special moment or two, from brilliant orange and blue sunrises or sunsets, a star-filled or moonlit sky, a great blue heron strutting on the banks of a shopping center pond, or even a chance to chat up the Frito-Lay delivery guy on how our beleaguered economy is affecting chip sales.

What many people don't understand about walking is that it is not necessarily about exercise or transportation.

Ultimately, however, the Prevention ranking isn't all bad. I often think about conversations with residents of Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colo.; and Seattle who wish they did not get put on "most livable cities" lists of national magazines.

They say every time those lists come out, more people move there and make their cities less livable.

This ranking will come and go, as they all do. It's nothing to worry about. With the weekly barrage of lists and rankings, I think we've started taking most of them with a grain of salt. Plus, I'm sure that Mount Pleasant officials, chamber types and happy citizens could find a way to craft a survey saying that Prevention is the fifth worst health and fitness magazine on the market.

Reach David Quick at 937-5516 or dquick@postandcourier.com.