My walk today took me all over a section of a neighborhood that I assumed I’d be more familiar with, but it turns out that I haven’t really walked any of these streets, even though my current dormitory is but a half block away from the perimeter of the zone! Nevertheless, I began my walk excited to see where the afternoon would take me. This day was the first time of the calendar year that it was nice enough that I could wear a T-shirt, so I think I picked the perfect time for a nice, observant walk.

Right upon beginning my path, I was struck by the writing printed on the sidewalk.

Although this is not the first time I’ve seen writing like this on the sidewalks (they’re all over Northfield), this one was particularly striking and a nice start to my walk.

Once I got into my path, the first thing that caught my focus was the architecture and surroundings of all of the houses. Although they were not necessarily eclectic or anything flashy, there is a great diversity of homes on each and every street. I loved looking at all of the interesting colors and styles that the houses had, as well as their yards and perimeters. Almost every one was evidently a single-family home equipped with a driveway or garage, and the neighborhood as a whole somewhat emitted the signals of an idyllic suburban family lifestyle, although with the small-town feel that Northfield always has. Here are a couple of my favorite homes that I saw:

Another thing that I was really thinking about as I was walking was the transportation features on each street. I noticed that many of the streets had insufficient sidewalks, which is okay given the lack of traffic, but still somewhat frustrating for pedestrians on principle. Some streets had sidewalks on only one side, which I found interesting, but couldn’t quite pin down any pattern or reason why that might be.

Fourth Street was the definite center of my excursion. Right away, I noticed that it was a much wider street, with a little more traffic (and two sidewalks!!). The main thing that struck me, though, was the bike lane in the road. For a city of its small size, the sheer proliferation of bike-friendly infrastructure in Northfield is just amazing! I am from a city more than five times the population of Northfield and I still think we have overall fewer bike lanes. Most cities in the United States could learn a thing or two from this infrastructure.

Finally, even on a day in which there wasn’t a whole lot of action going on in East Northfield, it was easy to see just how much life there was around. In addition to what seemed like everyone in the neighborhood walking their dogs at the same time, inanimate signs of joyful play were everywhere. Swing sets, toys left all over the place, and ripped up grass brought back memories of being a young kid playing with my neighbors on summer afternoons.

I’m really glad that I had the opportunity to go on this walk, and I hope to have more time in the future to explore what is right around me here at Carleton in a conscious way.