I joke that the hardest part of having three young kids is getting them all into and out of the car.
“If I start loading them up now, I’ll be at your house in two hours,” I recently joked with my mom, who lives 10 minutes away.
But all kidding aside: It takes a long time to get my 5, 3, and 1-year-old in and out of the minivan. Plus, it’s physically demanding. No one is stronger than a toddler who doesn’t want to be buckled in.
Part of the struggle comes from the fact that I used to live in New York City, and I loved the walkability. I’d walk to stores, to the movies, to restaurants, and more. Now, I live in Southern California, where driving is way more common. Sure, people walk dogs and go for jogs, but in the suburbs, where everything is so spread out, walking to get somewhere is so inconvenient. Or is it?
Recently, I started putting my kids in the stroller and walking (almost) everywhere. It’s one of the best things I’ve done. I’ve gotten in shape, gotten my kids outdoors, and best of all, we’ve made some good memories together.
It was hard to find a home with walkability
At the end of last year, I started seriously looking for a new home. With three kids, I needed something bigger. But beyond size, my top must-have was walkability. I wanted to take my kids on walks to stores, the movies, restaurants, and more — just like I could in New York.
As it turns out, it was a tall order. Most cities across the country zone for residential and commercial buildings, keeping homes in one area, shops in another. In fact, the largest US city without zoning laws is Houston, TX. (Yes, even NYC has zoning laws, though they’re different from the rules found in a typical suburb.) Zoning can be great: these laws mean most homeowners don’t need to worry about getting a noisy, smelly, potentially hazardous factory moving in next door. But it also means a lot of homes are miles from the closest shopping center.
Sure, some homes here in the ‘burbs are closer to shops than others. But even proximity doesn’t mean walkability.
I toured a handful of houses that were less than a mile or so from great shops and restaurants, but walking to them would mean going up and down a big hill or walking on the side of a busy street with no sidewalk. Maybe I could handle the trek by myself, but with three kids in tow? It wouldn’t be the pleasant family stroll I’d imagined.
Eventually, I found the perfect home right between two shopping centers. I was delighted to find the necessities: a movie theater, Target, Starbucks, and various restaurants all within a mile. We were home.
Walking has perks I didn’t expect
While my main motivation for finding a home based on walkability was to spend less time getting in the car, I was pleasantly surprised by the other perks of leaving the minivan at home.
For one thing, in the months since moving, I’ve gotten in great shape. Not to brag, but pushing a heavy double stroller while carrying a 20-pound baby on my chest has done wonders for my legs and rear end.
It’s good exercise for the kids, too. My 5-year-old will bring her scooter, and switch off riding, walking, and relaxing in the stroller. My 3-year-old will bring her tricycle sometimes, too. It’s good for them to get out, and even if we’re going to McDonald’s to get some fries, at least the commute feels healthy. And at night, they sleep well.
But my favorite perk has been one I hadn’t anticipated. We’re getting more quality time together than ever. When driving, I need to focus on the road. We’re all strapped in, facing forward. To entertain myself, I’ll put on a podcast or the radio. It’s not exactly “together time.” When we’re walking, my older two spend the whole time chatting with me or each other.
Luckily, my kids like, or at least tolerate, “hoofin’ it.” Sometimes they get tired, especially if we go to multiple stores. Once, all three kids melted down on our way back from Target, and we had to sit on a shady bench, snacking on the groceries we just purchased, before we could keep going. But generally, they get excited about our walks.
Of course, we still use the car a lot. We can’t walk to my mom’s house, and both swim and ballet classes are too far. Plus, I decided not to switch my oldest to a new preschool midyear, so until the end of the school year, we’re driving a half hour to our old neighborhood every weekday. But we’re looking forward to walking to her new, closer school in the fall.
Lately, we’ve been walking to the donut shop every weekend. One Saturday, when we came outside, we saw our new neighbor friends across the street, a family with two young kids, getting in their car. They were setting out for donuts, too. We shared a laugh about driving such a short route, and I smiled as I pulled my wagon past their house. We beat them there.
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