Walking Seattle

back to mrk.land
After a few random walks with no goal and a few more walks drawing images on the map, i noticed that i had already covered a lot of the area near my home, so i combined all the walk maps and started trying to walk any unwalked blocks. I figured i would try to walk every block, stair and path. Initially i set a goal of central Capitol Hill but when i quickly filled that in, i extended my goal to all 7 neighborhoods of the Hill. Later i set the borders on a 4km circle centered on home and eventually moved up to a 6km circle. Once the pandemic opened up a little, i used transit to access other parts of town. Most of these streets i had walked or biked in the decades of living here but i enjoyed discovering new places. I have seen some amazing places, right in my own city -- it feels like traveling! Since i have been diagnosed with Parkinsons, exercise is essential for me. So i kept walking. I have been lucky enough to have a neighbor who was interested in these crazy walks. We generally walk 6 to 9 miles, twice a week. I spend some time beforehand planning a route that will be interesting and will cover every block of an area (combined with previous and future walks). We have continued extending the fully walked section, often using transit to get to the start of the walk. I've drawn a black line on the map (which keeps growing). Within the black line i've walked every stair, every path and every block of every street. (This does not include alleys or private property.) I intend to keep expanding the fully walked area.
click images to enbiggen
The Black Line Dec 31, 2024 The extent of my completed area. Within the black line i have walked every block of every public street, every public staircase and every public path.		Complete Nov 11, 2024 Within the black line i have completed every block. Additional walks outside of that area are included on this map.		Annual Expansion 2020-2024 The growth of the black line (complete walked area) annually from 2020-2024.
allwalkportions.jpg 2020-2024 I calculated the proportion of the city that i have walked every block. If i separate out the heavy industrial Duwamish valley and distant West Seattle peninsula i have completed more than half of the rest.		2021 Apr 20 2020 through Apr 13 2021		2023 as of March 31, 2023
The Full walked map! Apr 20 2020 through Dec 01 2024