The Joys of City Life

One of the things I love most about NYC vs. the suburbs is that this is a walking city. Everyone walks who is able. We wear the soles of our shoes down like drivers wear down their car's tires. In certain parts of the city, it's easy to know how far you've walked, by the number of city blocks, but in other parts (like Astoria/LIC) it's not as easy. I mean, you could get in a car and drive the route and check the odometer, but who wants to do that if they don't have to, especially if you've secured an awesome parking spot?!? Or what if you don't own a car (like me, hooray!!)? You're kinda stuck. Well, it's Google Maps to the rescue! Someone has put together a Google map to record distances one walks: Gmaps Pedometer. Just hit "start recording" in the left hand menu, then double click for each leg of the walk - be sure to drop points at each turn and direction change (even if the street changes angle), or else you end up with diagonals that don't represent the route you mean to take. On the left you can even calculate calories burned and elevation. Nice! I use this map all the time to plot out new running routes. Have fun!