What’s better than a walk-up window?

As I’ve mentioned several (perhaps too many) times, one of things I love about our home is its proximity to many of our regular destinations. Who needs a car (or, for that matter, a gym membership) when so much of your life is within walking distance? If you remove commuting from the equation, we Chick-Nerds walk at least as much as we bus–probably more.

Case in point: Our pediatrician’s office is a mere block away. (As My Gail put it when she visited after Chicklet was born, “not much farther than a trip across a parking lot.”) This is reassuring and convenient, and I can’t think of anything* I’d rather live a block away from.

So it was appropriate that last week, after we walked our baby Busling to the doctor for his two-month check up, I found this at the registration desk:

A walking map? Of my neighborhood? Whaaat you say!

In addition to the basic street and landmark information, this handy little resource** shows all of the bus stops, bike routes, Zipcar locations, and staircases (helpful for folks who travel with strollers or wheelchairs) in the area. It estimates how long walking trips between popular destinations will take, lists phone numbers to city offices where you can report problems (hello!), and even provides a little neighborhood history.

Every neighborhood should have one of these. Thanks to Feet First, many already do.

Next up: Ped-friendly maps for mobile devices.

*Well, except perhaps the library, and we live even closer to it.
**As a walking veteran, I have a lot of this information in my head already, but it’s nice to have it all laid out in a handy, portable pamphlet.