Sidewalk or Street?

Venturing out to explore the side streets of a neighborhood, we are always faced with interesting decisions about where to walk. On major streets there is no question – stay on the sidewalk as much as possible. Of course this assumes there IS a sidewalk, which is not a given. In general, though, Turks seem to have the attitude that if there is a sidewalk in front of their property it’s part of the property itself. Perhaps it is, in a legal sense, but I’m not sure. The end result is that sidewalks are littered with hazards. A sidewalk may suddenly terminate in a five-foot drop with a door half a floor below sidewalk level. If there’s a business in a storefront, the owner will naturally expand his or her space onto the sidewalk with café tables, racks displaying wares, or a chest freezer full of ice cream. If the door to a residence is above street level, the sidewalk may be blocked by steps. On one street near us someone seems to have dug a small wallow for his pet duck out of the sidewalk. And of course if nothing else is blocking the sidewalk drivers will find it a convenient place to park.



On most of these side streets, Turks seem to walk in the street. Of course this is not without hazards either. Driving here is an art all its own: one that most of us are now convinced we have no desire to learn. Cars frequently pass with only inches to spare. Speed limits don’t seem to apply on small streets. The “wrong way” is only the wrong way if another car is headed your way full speed. Given this approach, there are surprisingly few accidents, and Turkish pedestrians seem to have mastered the art of jumping out of the way when a car approaches. A few days ago we actually saw a man running down the center of the street in front of a truck.

Tourists, on the other hand, seem to try to walk on the sidewalk, with frequent detours onto the street when the sidewalk becomes impassible. This is generally my strategy as well, but on occasion when I’m tired I fail to notice an obstacle on the sidewalk (usually a low step) and end up falling. Fortunately none of the others in our group seem to have this problem, though we’ve had a couple of twisted ankles when paths were uneven.