People PlacesWhat is this, who prepared it, and why?

John December
The People Places section presents information about pedestrian-oriented places enabled by transit. It is written and edited by me, John December, and is part of my Web site, johndecember.com.

I present this information because I hope that people-oriented places for walking and transit become more prevalent in the United States and worldwide.

I am not an urban planner, architect, or transit professional. I am developing People Places as an outgrowth of my work on the Places section of my Web site where I present information about several urban areas and my Live Simple book, which catalogs specific tactics for living a more simple life.

I want to help people learn how walkability and transit can lead to fascinating places. In the last century, suburban, urban, and rural development became so automobile-centered that many people might be unable to walk or take transit anymore. I am not against cars, but I hope that places for people can be supported and expanded so that people can walk, get exercise, reduce highway deaths, save energy, and enjoy all that people-oriented places can offer.

Urban critics and professionals have worked on these ideas for decades. I hope my Web-based work will help draw a general audience into these ideas and point to terms and concepts, books, information sources, as well as eventually develop and present some original ideas.

I am an urban dweller and walker, facing the issue of walkability and transit in an urban area daily. By choice, I do not have a car (since 1989), and I walk or take transit, including a streetcar, to shopping, parks, and other attractions. I am fortunate in that I can work at home (developing johndecember.com), so I do not have to commute to an office park or tower. I walked or took transit to school while teaching or in graduate school. When I had a real job and a car (way back in the 1980s!), I still walked as much as possible, and on many weekends, I did not use my car at all. My girlfriend at that time did have a car, and she liked to drive, so I did ride in a car often--the deal we had was that I paid for where we went, like the movies or meals, if she would drive (I never did like driving).

I have lived in a range of cities in four US states, including the largest cities in two different states, and presently live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin's largest city. My early life was shaped by living in small towns in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, which I gratefully remember as places where I could walk to stores, the lake or easily ride my bike to parks.

My view of the world has been shaped by my experience and travels. On my trips, I have always sought to explore places by asking myself, "What would it be like to live here?" I've used public transit, shopped at food stores, and walked whenever possible in trips to New York, London, Mexico City, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing, Stockholm, Vienna, Chicago, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Seattle, Minneapolis, San Francisco, San Jose, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Washington DC, Detroit, Atlanta, Baltimore, New York State's Capital District, St. Louis, Wichita KS, Honolulu HI, Madison WI, Kenosha WI, Racine WI, Waukesha WI, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

This People Places section of my Web site is a long-term project. I will continuously add more information to it. If you have suggestions or comments, please send email to me at johndecember@gmail.com with the subject line places-people. Thank you!

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2024-03-18 · John December · Terms © johndecember.com