A new study released today lists the top metropolitan areas in terms of “walkability”. Las Vegas came in ranked at number 20. It is almost certain that the Strip and the sidewalks and trails within Master Planned Communities contributed to this ranking. As more pedestrian-friendly mixed-use developments are completed, moving to Vegas will mean even more opportunities for those who like to take a stroll, a brisk walk, an invigorating hike, or a multi-mile run!

When you come visit me to pick your new house or condo, be sure to bring walking shoes!

I have a love-hate relationship with the writings of Barbara Ehrenreich. She has a knack of starting with a good idea, some decent research, a clever insight.  And then, almost without fail, she goes off a rhetorical cliff.

Take for example, her essay called “What’s So Great About Gated Communities?” If you only have patience enough for one sentence, let it be this one:

But all these places suffer from the delusion that security lies behind physical barriers.

You will not catch a real estate professional — not even an apartment leasing agent — refer to a “security gate.” If she is particularly cynical, or just trying to make up for the fact that the property does not have one, she might call it a “False Sense of Security Gate,” because that is what it gives most people.  She will usually call it a gate, or an “access gate,” and that reveals its true purpose:  to grant access.

What?  Don’t you want the postman to have access to the mailbox?  Don’t you want the UPS and FedEx man to have access so they can deliver things you have ordered? Wouldn’t you want your invited guests to have access so they can make it to your front door?  And, if you had an emergency of some sort, wouldn’t you want police cars and ambulances and fire trucks to have access?

The truth is that there are many people that you want to have access.

Because there are many people that we do want to have access, it is almost impossible to reliably keep out those we wish to deny access. Who is to say whether the man in the white panel van is the “discreet handyman” hired by the lady two blocks over, or someone wishing to steal your television?  How about the man in the expensive SUV here to visit “The Smiths”?  Can you be sure no well-meaning contractor or gate monitor will let in someone who “looks like they belong”?  That a “bad guy” can’t possibly slip in behind a legitimate resident of the community before the gate closes?  And this completely discounts the ability of a sufficiently motivated young person to hop or climb over an inconveniently placed fence. Gates only keep out people who want to be kept out.

What a shame Ms. Ehrenreich had to ruin her perfectly good essay with a paragraph about the role of fences in war, oppressive regimes, and illegal immigration.