The Modern Flâneur: Thinking About Life As A Pedestrian

Being on the road is integral to many of our lives. I’ll be the first to admit, having grown up in the suburbs of Colorado, I wasn’t familiar with public transport, nor was it a realistic option, until I left for college and grad school. To me, turning 16 was the biggest of adolescent milestones — with it came power and freedom. Like an explorer in the 1400s with a charter from the Queen, driving meant interacting with where I lived in a way I had not yet accomplished.

Arguably, driving is still one of my favorite things to do, though I don’t often have the opportunity. We may romanticize it, sure, the open roads, music, wind billowing in, but the point of the matter is, driving helps many of us get to where we need to be. Yet, according to the latest data from the CDC, one death on the road occurs every 66 minutes.

We obviously take for granted the safety we may have, as drivers enclosed in a hunk of metal more than anything. But the streets are like any complex system, with many moving parts. It only takes one second to change your life or somebody else’s. Of the many crashes that happen, 1 in 6 who died were pedestrians.

While living in New York City, being a pedestrian became a part of my identity for the first time. It was how I primarily got around, save for the subway or the bus, or maybe in a real pinch, an uber in inclement weather. My vocabulary consisted of blocks converted to minutes of walking time, every mental map of the city consisting of easy spots to get to and walk from.

The subway itself seemed like an elusive beast, one that feasts on underground lines that connect all the parts of the city, that swallows up $2.75 for every ride, that moans, groans, and sweats, as it makes its way down the track, where the air is pungent, humid, heavy.

“Don’t worry, it’s not that far, we can just walk,” a statement I’ve probably said countless times, no matter how impractical my shoe choices were.

I may have once argued that the subway, the train, the bus, was the true equalizer for all, but in reality, it is being able to step solidly on your own two feet, get to where you need to be, a privilege in and of itself. It does not matter the years you’ve lived in the city, the money you may have burning a pocket, the jewelry or designer clothes you may wear. There is a construction worker, a three-piece suit and briefcase, heels and a long trench coat, children and backpacks, and performers lugging around speakers and a baseball cap for change, all somewhere on any day’s commute.

Habitus is a philosophical attempt at understanding and characterizing the interplay between society and the individual, the ways in which certain circumstances guide ways to think, feel, and act. The act of a pedestrian takes on habitus wholeheartedly, it is the easiest way to demonstrate how we, as individuals, interact with our surroundings. Our habits, then, reinforce many things about our lifestyle, our health, and even our awareness. Being a pedestrian enables us to travel when we want to, to commute and conduct daily affairs, to exist within a city; it even affords one the freedom of listlessness, should they so desire.

The safe streets are a paradise for the modern flâneur. The flâneur, an individual who is simultaneously enveloped by the bumbling buzz of urban life and distinctly separate from it, thrived in a version of the city where the streets were open for idle strolling. Though that is hardly feasible nor a modern reality, today’s flâneur, today’s pedestrian, can still frolic about, so long as the streets are safe for them.

I am excited to introduce you to a series of blog posts, as part of Project Look Out’s outreach. Through this, we will dive deeper into the world of pedestrian safety, to digest community anecdotes and experiences, data, research, as well as further question how we can change the conversation. We all share the road; it’s time we share the conversation around safety too.

Until next time, I will leave you with this Anthony Foxx quote… “whether you live in a city or a small town, and whether you drive a car, take the bus or ride a train, at some point in the day, everyone is a pedestrian.”