Is a 30 min walk considered short?

[Chris S]

It would take me about 30 minutes to walk 1.5 miles. I wouldn't call that short.

 

[kayakerles]

Itas for the 'article' linked in the OP... two sentences???? (or do i need to register to read more?)

Just tap on “I'll do it later” or some such wording and it will let you read the whole article without paying or subscribing, @MontyVeda. The last lines of the article sums it up IMHO. ““Researchers found a link between activity and environment, finding that those who lived in more “walkable” areas walked more. “It’s really quite significantly impacted by where you live and how easy your environment makes it for you to be active”

Growing up in NYC, my whole family and I (friends and everyone I knew) walked EVERYWHERE all the time. The 50 years or so my dad and mom lived in NYC before retiring to the country they never even owned a car, OR knew how to drive.

I now live in a city in Maryland with a pop of 82,000, thankfully very walkable AND bike-able.

Yeah, my vote puts 30 minutes at a short walk too.

 

[kayakerles]

Do you consider a 30 min walk a short one?

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...walking-us-uk-30-minutes-debate-b1905113.html

Fun topic choice, @Ming. It's sure to get responses from everywhere! Let us know the vote balance now and then. 🙂👍 (I'm guessing most responses will say “short” just like many say they ride 1million miles weekly, climb 15,000 foot mountains daily, ride averaging 50mph on strong wind days, etc) 🤣 I cast my vote for 30 min = short. 🙂

 

[Cycleops]

30 mins short? Yes if you're an estate agent

E.g. A short walk to the train station.

 

[kayakerles]

The context is that US residences are not walkable to the equivalent of our high street shops, malls or to the nearest chicken and chip shop. Unless you live in the City. You have to drive.

@Arrowfoot, I can attest to that being very true for at least some places in the Midwest US. We lived out in the country, but the only way to get anywhere was to drive on narrow single-lane roads with no breakdown lanes. Walking, certainly, and even most bike riding there was such a risk. However, in-town (pop 16,000) were streets with 30 mph limits and around 50% of the streets had sidewalks too. That was safe for either. But out of town? I'd rather be back where I was born, riding in between taxi cabs and buses in NYC than be on Oklahoma or Texas roads. The land of bowling pins for pickup truck drivers!

 

[gbb]

Must be an age thing.

My mother has an anecdote she likes to trot out regarding my first day at infant school... i cried all the way there. Not because i didn't want to go to school but because she was taking me and I thought I was a big boy and old enough to go on my own. The next day she walked me to the end of the road and kept an eye on me whilst i made my way to the lollipop man, who'd ferry us safely across the road. I was too young to remember much of infant school, but i don't recall ever being taken to school. Hardly any kids were in the 70s. High school was the same, rain or shine, sleet and snow, we all seemingly walked with our bags of books and PE kit and briefly in my case, a tuba!

How things have changed...we were the same, I cant remember anyone being taken to school by mum.

 

[kayakerles]

Near us, they're called OAP's.

Same with me in the 60s/70s, @ClichéGuevara, walk, run or crawl to school. Bike rode AFTER school, or bikes would get nicked! I had my first time job at 16 or 17, rode my bike uptown to work on my trusty Peugeot UO-8, locked it up old-school, front wheel next to the rear wheel and frame, heavy chain through them all and around a pole. Came out, all was still there… except my saddle!

 

[Saluki]

It depends on the dog. For a greyhound it’s long, for a collie, what’s the point in such a short walk.

I walk to the city regularly. 20 mins each way. Plus walking about when there.
30 minutes is quite a short walk, when not out with one of my hounds, who are lazy.

 

[Jenkins]

Yes, but then I call a 10 mile bike ride a short one.

 

[kayakerles]

Yes, but then I call a 10 mile bike ride a short one.

I agree. That's my minimum, but then 20 is my max. I know… snicker snicker, but that's okay by me. To each his/her own. Just enjoy!

 

[Andy_R]

As a dog owner, that's a quick trip around the block.

 

[400ixl]

I think it means different things to different people.

The world health organisation suggests an adult should do 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week. So that is just over 10 minutes a day.

For someone who is not used to exercising I would have thought 10-15 minutes is a short walk, 30 minutes a moderate walk, and an hour a long walk. Anything more they would likely see as a hike. This is probably 50%+ of the poulation.

For someone with a dog for example or is otherwise active, 30 minutes would probably be a short walk and an hour a moderate walk.

It all depends on your personal perspective.

 

[captain nemo1701]

A somewhat obese ex-aquitance of mine once refused to walk to the local chippy with me - it's about a 3 minute walk.
Plus, once saw a 4*4 driver mount the pavement completely here:

It was a saturday, so he could park quite legally on the single yellow line but being somewhat lazy, preferred to avoid walking a mere 10-15m, by blocking the whole pavement with his vehicle, outside shop door. Some lazy feckers can't even be arsed to walk metres

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Yes, but then I call a 10 mile bike ride a short one.

I agree - unless it's a commute it's not worth the effort of getting ready.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Context is everything though.

"The sandwich shop is a short walk from the office". I'd expect that to be less than 10 mins. 30 mins would not be at all short because you couldn't get there, buy a sandwich and get back in your lunch hour.

"The office is a short walk from the station." I'd put a max of about 15-20 mins on that. While I've had jobs where I walked 30 mins from the station to the office in the morning/evening I wouldn't describe that as "short". That's an hour's extra daily commute time.

"There are several marked trails from the car park. The blue trail is a short walk". I think 30-60 minutes duration would be an entirely reasonable expectation for a "short" walk on a marked trail.

Am I over-thinking this?

Yes, context matters.

My wife and I would class 2 hours walking as a 'shortie' but then we walk a lot.

A 2 hour walk to the shops and back would be long.

I'm surprised at rhe number of votes for half an hour is not a short walk as I have the CC population down as being quite fit.