Portland is a walkers paradise. Whether you are visiting or live here, there is a very real possibility to get around central Portland without a car. While we’ve gotten a lot of coverage for our bicycle culture, walking is just as enjoyable and slow enough to make all sorts of fun discoveries.

Things to remember when walking around our fair city:

• On the Eastside (particularly around the Convention Center and Lloyd Center), you will need to push the “walk button” to get the walk signal to cross the street.
• At an intersection that does not have a crosswalk sign, you have the right to cross the street and have traffic stop for you. Give physical signals that you are planning to cross and not just hanging out on the street corner. Be careful on multi-lane roads and use common sense. If one lane stops for you (pretty common), be VERY sure the next lane has stopped before walking into it.
• Many great walking paths are also used by bicyclists and runners — be careful and keep a steady and predictable line if possible.
• Bicyclists can ride on the sidewalk, but hopefully aren’t riding too fast or too close to you. Help them get by you if you notice them coming by walking to the side. It’s safe to assume that if they are biking on the sidewalk, they are either newer cyclists and a little nervous or that riding in that street is particularly unsafe. Give them a friendly hello so they keep on riding their bikes instead of their cars!