No.  My parents did not drive me to school when I grew up.  If I whined
I got the "Your grandfather had to walk 2 miles in a blizzard to get to
school!" story.  I lived in a small city (20,000 people) with a
traditional grid layout with alleys and sidewalks on every block.  

As a kid I often preferred walking and riding in the alleys, which as I
reflect on it, is a neat side effect of "traditional" grid neighborhood
design.  The alley is an excellent bike path for kids: slow-moving or no
traffic, well-defined street intersection/crossing (safe), and a kind of
cool place for kids to hang out to play - back yards and neighborhood
activity (gardens, pets, open public space) converged at the alley.  I'm
feeling nostalgic!

1965 Kindergarten: walked, 6 city blocks one-way (UNaccompanied by an
adult, how shocking)
1966-67 1st & 2nd: walked, 8 city blocks one-way (yes, all weather
conditions, no adult)  
1968-73 3rd - 8th: walked or bicycled, 8 city blocks one-way 
1974-77 9th - 11th: walked or bicycled, 18 city-blocks (rare auto ride
in bad weather)
1978 high school senior: walked or bicycled, 18 city-blocks (and once in
a while a rare ride with a buddy who owned a car!  Was he cool or what?)

I don't have kids of my own, so can't relate very well to what parents
face today.

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul T. O'Leary
Sent: Saturday, January 11, 2003 12:02 AM

Um, at the risk of sounding like Abe Simpson, is there anyone here who 
actually got driven to/from school "wen dey wuz a kid"?

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