Walkable?

Nowadays everyone has a social media account and a brand and a mission. Even apartment communities.

From The Paragon, this Tweet:

Hosting a dinner party in your apartment and need supplies? Trader Joe's, The Perfect Pour, and Costco are within walking distance!

The Paragon, whose official name is Paragon at Columbia Overlook Apartments in Elkridge, Maryland, uses their social media account to establish and promote interest for their brand. Well, of course they do. That’s the point. They want to draw interest, entice potential renters to pay them a visit, to imagine being a part of The Paragon experience.

No criticism here.

Just a question. Are there sidewalks? When I read that places like Trader Joe's are within walking distance I want to know if anyone could actually walk or whether they’d be talking their life in their hands. Would the most direct route be through a parking lot? Sidewalks and plentiful crosswalks are key to a claim of convenient walkability. 

I don’t know the answer here, so I’m going to check it out and report back. I do know that there are plenty of places locally that could be walkable but the lack of sidewalks and crosswalks prevent that. And most of us have lived here so long, reliant upon our automobiles, that we don’t even consider that someone would want to walk there.

The new development Downtown is being built with walkability in mind. But what about the rest of town? Is it possible to add walkability retroactively? Is it worth the attempt? Younger potential residents are looking for it. What are we doing as a community to make that happen?

As a postscript, my most recent walk of any length was yesterday, around the parking lot near Roggenart, trying to find where I had parked my car. My own personal walkability could stand to undergo some major overhaul.