Finally, some note should be made of the reduced necessity for walking in the modern city. This particular activity remains legal, but the extent to which it is approved is questionable. Like other historic necessities (for example, cooking over fire), it has, in the modern world, become largely a recreational activity, indulged in by masochistic cultists. Those people who still indulge in it for a living, such as mail carriers, beat-policemen and night watchmen, are frequently punished with low status, poor pay and the continual threat of attack by unfriendly dogs and people. Who or what are killing walking is a complex matter. The mass-produced automobile is usually assigned the major responsibility, but it is surely being aided and abetted by the areal expansion of the city (making possible wider, straighter streets, and itself engendered by the railroad and trolley), the telegraph, the telephone, and the establishment of relatively reliable government postal systems.

SEED: Walking has shifted from necessity to recreation — a compelling essay angle on how ordinary activities become 'masochistic cults' when they lose utility. XREF: Echoes contemporary debates about walkable cities, Jane Jacobs' critique of autocentric planning, and modern discourse on 15-minute neighborhoods. QUESTION: What other historical necessities have become recreational — and what does their status say about cultural values?

Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order a…, loc. 395