Walk this way...

From "JANE'S WALK: In praise of the lost art of strolling," in the Toronto Star:

... As much as anything, he realized, walking defines us. It is one of the things that make us what we are. Unlike running, marching, crawling, hopping, skipping, jogging, walking is essential; left foot, right foot, left foot ... And so it is a measure of how far removed we have grown from ourselves that many of us now see walking as extraneous. It is viewed as a kind of hobby, a pastime, a luxury, certainly not essential, and definitely not a means of transportation.

Indeed, we have reached a point where we classify ourselves according to whether we walk or drive. Thus we are either drivers or pedestrians. Because walking is not considered necessary, we give precedence to those who travel in cars and trucks. From their perspective, people who walk are obstacles, in the way.

As the French realized 150 years ago, walking – specifically urban walking – is about much more than getting from one place to another. It is a mode of being, a way of relating, of existing in the world. The mere act of going out onto the street opens up a whole set of possibilities that lie at the heart of urban life.
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Fred Kent (PPS) says "When you design for cars and traffic, you get more cars and traffic. When you design for places and people, you get places and people.”

See "Impresario of the Village Green" from the New York Times.