Do you live within walking distance of a grocery store?

[Angela Shelley]

This is a subjective question; your answer depends upon the distance which you can walk without falling over and if there is an interstate highway between you and the store or not.

Do you live within walking distance of a grocery store?

[dysfunctional press]

1. only if you count 7-11 as a 'grocery store'. i don't. so...no.

nt

[Blue_In_AK]

2. A mile away.

Easily walkable, at least on one side of the street, and in the summer. Winter not so much.

[LeftishBrit]

3. Yes.

I live literally next door to a small expensive grocery store; and less than 10 minutes walk from the Co-op.

I am slightly further, but still walking distance from Marks and Spencers and Sainsburys.

I'm pretty lucky in this way!

[Jokerman]

4. Yes, about a ten minute walk.

I'm also walking distance to work, a shopping center, several restaurants, bars and the bus stop.

I love living in the city!

[RoseMead]

5. Yes, unfortunately it's one of the most expensive in town

and it has a poorer selection of items than the stores uptown. But yes, we can walk to it. It's about 9 blocks away. We have to cross a four lane highway, but traffic isn't too bad.

[LiberalEsto]

6. Yes, absolutely

That's one of my requirements for a home: close to a supermarket and close to public transportation.

We're about a half mile from some small local markets and a CVS drugstore that sells some food. About a mile and a half in the opposite direction is a big supermarket, and I could get there by bus.

[devilgrrl]

7. Yes, thank goodness.

And a Trader Joe's is opening just around the corner soon. I'm pretty damned lucky.

[MountainLaurel]

8. A corner store, yes

And we can walk to the farmer's market, where we can get bread, produce, and other items for the week.

Otherwise we could probably bike to the nearest big store, which is about 2 miles away.

[Retrograde]

9. several

One about a block away, a couple of small convenience stores within 5 blocks, Whole Foods and Safeway about a mile away, another large independent one a wee bit further. Plus the Farmers' Market once a week.

[kestrel91316]

45. There's gonna be a Whole Foods within A MILE of me as soon as

they finish the giant mixed-use project down on Ventura Blvd. It's gonna have the market, other retail/restaurants, and then an unknown (to me) number of stories of residential (apartments? condos?) upstairs. It's the type of development they are switching to in Los Angeles. About time.

[Angela Shelley]

71. We visited a Whole Foods for the first time last week,

just outside of DC.

You are lucky to have one coming to your area.

[Leopolds Ghost]

77. If you like that, try Trader Joes.

They support their own network of local producers and distributors.

[kestrel91316]

114. We have several of them, just none so close. They used to be Mrs. Gooch's

stores until WF bought her out. They put in a nice big brand new one down the street 2-3 miles from my office but it's not on the way home so I don't go often.

Love the store. But the nickname "Whole Paycheck" is apt.......

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Mine is a good couple of miles away...so, no.

There used to be a little neighborhood store not too far away, but it closed years ago...

Oh, wait...

There is a convenience store that's probably within walking distance...

So, maybe yes...

:shrug:

[DJ13]

11. No

The nearest is over a mile away, and I was disabled in my left leg from an auto accident 10 years ago.

Couldnt walk there if I wanted to.

[demnan]

12. Yes

I live within 3/4 of a mile of a very good grocery store and I do not have to cross any major highways to get there. Do I walk? No, as a typical suburbianite I drive my car.

[kestrel91316]

46. I used to be even worse. I would get in my car to drive to the grocery

two blocks away.

I decided to change, and now would NEVER do that. I enjoy the walk, even though now it's farther.

[carlyhippy]

13. yes, about a 10 minute walk

Carly

[scheming daemons]

14. Sure... as long as I only have to carry one bag back with me.

Kind of hard to carry a whole shopping cart's worth of groceries, though.

[Captain Angry]

15. About a mile.

To:

Grocery, dry cleaner, a Subway restaurant, barber, coffee shop, liquor store, McDonalds, Sonic and a gas station.

When I'm not buying dairy products, I try to walk to the grocery store. When I meet my ex-coworkers for lunch at Sonic, I walk. But I do drive to the dry cleaner since carrying a suit or two in the wind would suck, but that trip gets merged into the dairy run and other errands.

[XemaSab]

16. Not really

There's one about a mile and a half away, but I ain't walking there in 106 degree weather for a damn can of coconut milk. :P

[kestrel91316]

51. Weenie. 106 is nothing. I walked to Ralph's last weekend when it was over 110.

Not anything I would RECOMMEND, mind you............and it took me a whole day to recover from the heat exhaustion........lol

[Angela Shelley]

68. Nothing like a fried kestrel91316 for dinner, right?

[XemaSab]

107. Yeah, but when it's 106 EVERY DAY FOR MONTHS

:P

[kestrel91316]

116. I know how hot Redding is. We're hotter. We're even hotter than

Vegas and Palm Springs a lot of the time.

But yeah, your town sucks like mine.

[XemaSab]

117. I'm skeptical that y'all are hotter

:P

[kestrel91316]

127. Go to WeatherUnderground and set up Woodland Hills, CA

as one of your favorites and just watch, lol.

We hit 119 two years ago in July, highest temp ever recorded anytime, anywhere in LA County.......

And this past weekend it got pretty damned close to that again for several days.

[Richard Steele]

17. Yes. Two, if I feel like an extra-long walk.

One is three blocks away, the other about 2 miles.
I grew up in the country, so two miles is not a
big deal to walk, if I need to.

[libnnc]

18. Yes...but it is a grocery store that I really don't like

its meat department hasn't received anything higher than a "B" from the health department so I don't usually go there

I may have to change that x(

[tedoll78]

19. Yup.

Two, actually. I'm also 3 miles away from work.

No interstate between any of these places and my house.

[librechik]

20. yes (one reason we picked this place) n/t

[RedEarth]

21. Depends on how hungry I am

....yes, about one mile.

[yeswecanseattle]

across a bridge.

And I walk there at least once a day.

[MercutioATC]

22. Yes...about 15 minutes on foot (full grocery store).

10 minutes to a Convenient store...3-5 minutes to 2 beverage stores and 5 restaurants.

[Kali]

23. If I wanted to walk 15 miles. And the most direct way IS an interstate.

[DinahMoeHum]

Yes, a block away, but it's rather expensive (Gristedes)

Then again, it's in a small shopping center that includes a post office, a couple of restaurants, a bank, a kosher grocery store, a kosher bakery, and a sports memorabilia store.

[KamaAina]

24. I can see its lit sign from my bed

but wouldn't you know, the entrance faces the other way, all the way down the block. :(

[trackfan]

25. Yes.

But I can only get a few items if I go on foot because there is an significant elevation difference. I'm 2 steep blocks plus a flight of 114 steps above the store.

[madrchsod]

26. yes

a dollar store,grocery store,and a charity store 6 blocks down the hill

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

27. I've walked to the grocery store

A couple of years ago, I had to get rid of my old car and I went without transportion for awhile. The grocery store is about 1.5 miles away. The problem is that it killed the fingers of my hands to carry bags of groceries over that distance. I got a little cart with wheels but it broke down after a few trips, as the sidewalks are in terrible shape (some stretches without sidewalks, requiring me to walk on the edge of traffic). I think a bicycle, one of man's greatest inventions, would make more sense, one that has baskets to carry things. When I lived in Europe, I noticed that there were open air markets in downtown areas usually very close by. Some people would go shopping for food every day after work, which didn't require carrying a lot of groceries at one time.

[ieoeja]

28. Yes n/t

[Phillycat]

29. Yes.

[CBGLuthier]

30. I have two choices for walking

within a mile.

Actually I-44 is between us and one of them but we can walk under it. :-)

Homeland which is mostly overpriced and WalMart which .. well... is WalMart.

To be honest, we do a small amount of our shopping at Walmart anyway. Just the few things they are cheapest on. Hoping they are mostly "loss-leaders".

Our main grocery shopping is more like 2 to 3 miles away. Fortunately it is conveniently between my wife's work and our home so we can at least visit without too much waste.

[smoogatz]

31. No. They still don't get it. But even if they did

We live a five minute walk from work, though, and an easy bike ride from our local organic/local foods coop, though their building is likely to be torn down and replaced by a new, multi-million dollar county jail.

[Warpy]

32. It's a 15 minute walk

I'm 20 minutes from a Wally's, 20 minutes from a Walgreen's, 5 minutes from the library (priorities!), 20 minutes from an international grocery, and 10 minutes from a city bus stop. There are restaurants, thrift shops, clothing stores, and dollar stores aplenty here. There are also sidewalks to walk on to get to all these amenities.

I chose this neighborhood carefully, although my McMansion dwelling workmates didn't understand it at all.

Now my cheap little house is still appreciating while they're stuck in white elephants that are worth less than they owe.

[evlbstrd]

33. Four blocks.

Same to my office. I'm lucky.

[Lex]

34. Yes.

A Whole Foods about 1.5 miles away.

[Mojorabbit]

35. Yes but I'd have to cross

an intersection with six lanes of traffic and double turn lanes. It would be taking my life into my hands to do it.

[kestrel91316]

61. Get a klaxon horn and a big bright red flashing light to hold and MAKE

those damned drivers pay attention and respect pedestrian rights!

Our car-centric culture just makes me SO angry sometimes........and I totally understand your concern. It's why I don't bike the 3 miles to work - way too dangerous because of drivers in a hurry.

[Arctic Dave]

36. We live across the street from a Fred Meyers.

It is so cool, I've never lived within five miles of a store before.

[Samurai_Writer]

37. No, but I ride my bike there instead

The closest grocery store is 2 miles away. It takes me 15 minutes on my bike, in traffic.

[NeedleCast]

38. Yes

[Wickerman]

39. About 1 mile

With a big ass hill in between. I ride the bike on occassion, walk it on others. No sidewalks so winter in Minnesota gets dicey.

[iris5426]

40. Yes, but not a horribly good one..

It's ok, but I belong to a co-op where I try to do most of my shopping, and try to buy mostly organic...the one within walking distance doesn't really carry anything organic

[kestrel91316]

41. Ten minute brisk walk one way. Fifteen when it's hot.

Two grocery stores, one drug store, one deli/bakery, several goood little restaurants, several fast food restaurants. And Trader Joe's is 15-20 minutes away, but in another direction and not near anything else.

[Speck Tater]

42. I'm way out in the country. But I'm within BICYCLE distance. NT

[sinkingfeeling]

43. Yes, two blocks away is an IGA.

[Polly Hennessey]

44. Walk for Groceries

Yes, it is Sunflower Market and I am only 2.5 miles from work and I get to use side streets.

[kiva]

75. Love the Sunflower markets!

Best fruits and vegs, and much cheaper than other "healthy" stores.

[stimbox]

47. Yes. 4 of them. n/t

[papapi]

48. No, I can only walk fifty feet because of spine problems.

After that, I have to sit and rest ten minutes before I can walk another fifty feet.

[easttexaslefty]

49. No, we live in a rural area

15 mins by car to the closest grocery store

[rwheeler31]

50. no

[stillcool]

52. No.

but I live close to a bus stop.

[Cleita]

53. No. n/t

[Critters2]

54. I live a very easy walk from the local Hostess/Butternut bread store.

Not a full grocery, but it has a lot of food. The supermarkets would be a bit of a hike. I could do it if I had to, but I'd be damn tired afterwards.

[marmar]

55. Technically yes. But I live in sprawled suburban no-sidewalk land.....

.... in a malled- and stripmalled-up area, where attempting to walk across multilaned thoroughfares constantly clogged with traffic is risky business.

[cherokeeprogressive]

56. 2

[Initech]

57. Yeah, but the steep uphill walk back sucks.

[scheming daemons]

60. Especially when you're carrying all of your groceries....

[Initech]

63. Yeah, that would suck even more.

And the local Albertsons is strict about not letting shopping carts leave the area.

[Forkboy]

111. That's my situation. I take a bus home.

It would suck to have a heart attack before eating my crappy food. :)

[haele]

58. Yes, a little over a mile across a canyon and a couple rises

for the larger IGA store, and there's a mom-n-pop type almost convenience store even closer, but it'a a bit more expensive.

Both have butchers and get local meat as well as bulk cheese, and good amount of the produce is local. Milk and sundries are a bit expensive - I usually put on my retired sailor's hat and pick those - and eggs - (still a dozen extra-large for $1.59)up at the NEX when I go to fill up on gas. But our neighbor has about 6 chickens that lay on average 2/3 eggs a day cooped up against to our fence line in the far back against the canyon; if worse comes to worse, we'll suck up the sundries pricing and do the same; get some laying hens and grow some corn and peas year round to supplement their feed.

Not for meat, though - even though Laz knows how to butcher and prepare chickens - there's a reason why chicken was a "sunday dinner" - it takes pretty much most of the day to prepare a chicken for the oven. (besides, the kidlet would never forgive us if we killed a chicken for dinner, even if she was starving...)

Of course, if worse comes to worse, we'd be out on the street, and having chickens wouldn't help one bit unless the owners will let us live/camp out in the lower back yard.

California city living is still city living; and with cities, any economic misfortune drags most of it's population down with it which exacerbates it's situation into a death spiral for all involved.


Haele

[JackintheGreen]

59. I do, but

it makes me sad every time I walk into it. We call it the "Sad Acme," and it just depresses me no end.

[RebelOne]

62. I have 2 large grocery stores within a mile's radius.

So it doesn't cost me much to drive.

[dbackjon]

64. Closest current is 1.5 miles

Four total within 2 1/4 miles.

A fresh and easy is going up within 1 mile though.

[Overseas]

65. Yes. I chose my city based on available public transit. //nt

[tammywammy]

66. No

That's why I do my grocery shopping on my way home from work, it's only a mile (total) out of the way then. I rarely have to go from my house the 4 miles (one way) to the store.

I do have a little gas station within walking distance that I can pick up things like milk, toilet paper, etc if it's a dire emergency, but I'd prefer not to buy many things like that there as they're more expensive than the grocery store.

[hyphenate]

67. Since walking is, for me, a chore anyhow

due to disability, the answer is no. However, for a normal, healthy person who can walk a mile, there are two supermarkets within a 1 mile radius, and a convenience store about 3/4 of a mile. I now need transportation to go 1/8th of a mile, because I can't walk without completely depleting myself in even half that.

[snooper2]

69. Albertsons

half mile away...

[Tennessee Gal]

70. No,

But I try to combine trips to the grocery store with other necessary trips of 7-10 miles where I live.

[LisaM]

72. I do, and I've walked there many times

However, it's not a pleasant walk. Much of it doesn't have sidewalks (Seattle is pretty backwards in that regard), and there is a bear of a crosswalk I need to go over that is not particularly pedestrian friendly. But I've done it.

[Leopolds Ghost]

73. 5 min walk to the Co-op, but they are too expensive. 1.5 miles to Safeway is easier

I can bike it and carry 6 grocery bags on the bike,
so I don't need a car. And it's downhill in the
homeward direction no matter which store I go to
(which is why I can carry so many bags on the bike).

Hardware store is next to the Whole Foods in a
mixed-use development. But the only thing that's
not too expensive there is the gourmet stuff (and
I wish the Trader Joes were closer because they
have better cheaper "specialty" foods.) I once
carried four paint cans and a bag of plastering
tools home from the hardware store on my bike.
That was tricky.

They opened a new Trader Joes down in the
Rachel Carson "Environmental Area", but there's
no bike trail or sidewalk that goes there, just
a highway and a dirt path. It's about 3 miles
from my house. There seems to be ample room
in all these suburbs for highways to be cut
through the landscape, but proposals for bike
trails or rail lines or even sidewalks get run
through the "environmental" wringer for being
"too close to houses" and the like.

[B3Nut]

74. Yes, a small one

I can walk to the better one in town too, it's about a mile away by the walking path through town. I'm a block and a half from a really great brew pub, too. :beer: :9 We also walk to the fantastic Italian place as well...the red sauce they make is to die for.

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[balantz]

76. Would prefer to take a bus as the walk would be a couple of hours.

The problem is having enough money when I get there. Window shopping for food is not pleasant.

[FSogol]

78. Yes, there are 2 within 1/2 mile. n/t

[DS1]

79. 2 miles. I prefer to bike

[mod mom]

80. 3/4 mile to a health food co-op and ~ 1 mile to a Kroger. Residential streets to Co-op

and bike trail to Kroger with bridge under only busy street.

[K Gardner]

81. Well, not streets you could walk on without risking your life. We used to be able to ride our

bikes to the store, but they built shops on all the "back trails", erected blockades, etc., and there is virtually no way to get to the store except by car. No sidewalks anywhere. Either narrowly dangerous, hilly streets or highway.

[SeattleGirl]

84. That just drives me crazy -- no sidewalks.

:grr:

[Angela Shelley]

85. Hopefully your "quality of life" is higher in other ways

to make up for it.

[SeattleGirl]

82. Yes. I live within walking distance to two large grocery stores, two

small mom and pop stores, and a drug store.

[hlthe2b]

83. yes.... one a mile away... two more within 2 miles

Thank God..... Now, if only I didn't have an 18 mi. (each way) commute to work that is off any mass transit routes.

[KayLaw]

86. Yes.

I never walk there, though, because I shop weekly and it would be too much to carry. I live even closer to a CVS and walk and bike there sometimes.

[Dora]

87. No.

:(

[NuttyFluffers]

88. sorta, if 1.5 miles by 50mph no-sidewalk hwy and cliff w/ falling rocks count

i've seen people walk it, and i'm sure i could as well. it's only 2 large hills, uphill both ways, and several 100 feet in elevation. but in a pinch i can definitely do it. i'd have to budget 2 hours coming and going, because the uphill part easily wears me down, but yeah, quite doable.

now convenient, that's another story. at that point i am happy to pay the $1.50 in gas/ins/wear & tear on the car. gas roughly averages out to $0.17 a mile for me, so it's not that bad. now driving 20+ miles to do idle shopping, that starts to get unnecessary.

[Heathen57]

89. There is one about a mile out

but I can no longer walk that far. Hell, I can fall over walking to the bathroom! :9

We used to have a fruit market about 4 blocks away and we would go there almost every day and eat what we bought walking home. It is now a Subway shop.

[Jane Austin]

90. Sadly, no. Nearest store is four miles away.

Nearest decent store is five miles away.

[SahaleArm]

91. 2 Blocks to a QFC.

2 Blocks to a Safeway
5 Blocks to a Trader Joes
6 Blocks to a Co-op

[LeftyMom]

92. There's a Safeway a few blocks away.

Not my favorite grocery store by a long shot, but it's where I go if I only need a few things I'm running out of, as it's close enough to walk.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

93. About 10 miles to a 7/11.

[yardwork]

94. Yes.

[Bettie]

95. We live a few blocks from our small town grocery...

DH does the "big" grocery shopping on his way home from work in CR, but we get bread, milk, and stuff we need on the fly from the small store here in town.

If DH didn't drive to town daily (like now, when his office is cleaning up from flooding and not open), we'd do most of our shopping at the local store.

[Sir Jeffrey]

96. I live less than one mile from a Kroger...

and I have to cross three major roads and an interstate to get there.

I hate living in the city. I just know the one time I try to walk over there or ride a bike I'd get smashed to death by traffic.

[Kazak]

97. Not the one we prefer, but yes.

:shrug:

[alarimer]

98. Yes but I will not be walking to the grocery store.

I wouldn't be able to carry enough home. I'd have to go even more than I do now and that would eat up too much time.

The distance is probably close to a mile and there are decent sidewalks, so it is possible. I'm just not going to do it.

[negativenihil]

99. Yes. 2 actually. n/t

[bikebloke]

100. Yes, but it's expensive.

So I do my grocery runs on my bike about 5 km away.

[CottonBear]

101. 3 major grocery stores with access by sidewalk and bike paths

and one within biking distance! Two of the walking distance sotes are 5 minutes or less from my house! All of the stores are accessible by bus as well. I'm not even including the local, neighborhood Walmart in my list!

[suffragette]

102. No, but there is a gocery store a block from where I work

and my bus stop is right in front of of it which makes getting the groceries home easy.

[shanti]

103. yes, three of them

.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

104. nope 30 miles away

[kineneb]

105. small one, about 1/2 mile, walk or bike

When we had to move, we intentionally chose somewhere with a grocery (small but adequate) and the post office within walking distance. Although strung out along a highway, the entire village is within walking distance.

[pitohui]

106. yes a full traditional grocery store

even closer a dollar general type of thing

sometimes for my exercise i walk to the store, when i know i will only be carrying back one bag (i bring my own stout canvas bag)

i think the problem of no true grocery store is far bigger in the inner cities than in the 'burbs

i understand what others are saying about the time taken to walk a couple of miles and back but in my case walking is one of my primary forms of exercise (low impact on the joints) and exercising outdoors is better for me because of my dust allergies -- so if i'm going to walk every day anyway and i probably am, 5 or 6 days of the week, might as well strap on the light ankle weights, and pick up a bag of supplies along the way

for those who have very limited time and who must pick up a week's worth at a time, obviously this ain't gonna work so well

also no sidewalks or bike paths, but i think walking is MUCH safer than biking because i can cut across lawns and get away from the busy highway, i quite biking after a bad fall near the store but i've never had a similar fall walking that route, there is a ditch to keep the cars from getting too frisky if i walk on the other side of it, not possible to bike there tho

[nadinbrzezinski]

108. No, not quite

[Hekate]

109. A mile. Far enough for all the dairy products to spoil, thank you. Also limited to what I can carry

...with bad shoulder joints.

I used to know a carless couple who hired a taxi-station wagon once a month to lug home all their canned goods and other staples. I think if things get bad enough in this country we will start carpooling with our friends and things like that.

I'm about to have my front yard landscaped with native low-water low-maintenance plants. The gardener agrees with me that despite her predilection for edible front yards, mine's too shady.

Be that as it may, when that project gets done, I want her to have the tiny back yard Roto-tilled and mulched to the nth degree, and the dwarf fruit trees and veggies are going in. It's a small space, but it will be sufficient, and once the heavy labor is done I can do the rest.

And if/when this drought gets bad enough, I know a guy who installs gray-water systems.

And by gods, there's enough space for chickens in the side yard. Never had chickens before, but I have a feeling there will be some in my future.

Thank gods I have a yard. I used to grow veggies on my balcony (even had a potted lime tree) but this is definitely better.

Hekate

[ronnykmarshall]

110. Yeah, what can I get ya?

[Smarmie Doofus]

118. Finally, someone made me laugh today.

I was going to answer "Yes" and "Why do you want to know?" But your response is infinitely better. I have to stop being so *literal*.

Bring me back some Reeses Pieces, BTW, if it's not too much trouble.

[Xenocrates]

112. No.

I'm also out of range for pizza deliveries. :(

[Kali]

122. that is one thing I miss about life in the city.

Whenever I visit my sister I love to just sit around her house and have all kinds of food DELIVERED!

[LWolf]

113. No. n/t

[ThomWV]

115. No

[scarletwoman]

119. No. I live in a rural area, the grocery store is 20 miles away. (nt)

[Breeze54]

120. Yes, ten minute walk in the summer, 20 in the winter

:P

[knitter4democracy]

121. Nope.

It's not far, though, but I have to drive. We live in walking distance of the kids' elementary school, though.

[asdjrocky]

123. Yes, but it's not a great store.

It's only good for a quick item or two. To do my real grocery shopping I have to drive.

[Lisa0825]

124. About a 20 minute walk...

easy enough, but not so great carrying cold or heavy groceries.

[JuniperLea]

125. Yes, a lovely Latino grocery!

Thankfully, it's my favorite food style... I can turn anything into a burrito!

[Spirochete]

126. Yes

I live pretty close to an intersection that has a Lowes on one corner, a Safeway on another corner, a Fred Meyer on a third corner, and a little strip mall on the fourth. There are also a Jack-in-the-box, and Carls Jr. a Quiznos, a Hollywood Video, and a Radio Shack really close. But I seldom walk there, because I don't want to carry 5 bags of stuff back.