I have a love-hate relationship with Taiwan’s sidewalks. At home, in Philadelphia or New York, the pavement is broad, and flat, and relatively smooth. In fact, this is even true in Beijing!

But in Taiwan, things are a bit different. For one thing, the sidewalks are relatively narrow. Presumably the streets here were made more with vehicles in mind, or perhaps the design dates back to a time in which the street itself was for walking, rather than motor vehicles.

Another thing is that the sidewalks are not the smooth, flat walkways that border the city blocks whence I came. There is a different level in front of each storefront or shop. My guess is that while this makes things inconvenient for walking (especially for me, with damaged knees, or anyone confined to a wheelchair or walker), it does prevent scooters, bicycles, and motorcycles from zooming up and down and running over random pedestrians.

And finally, it seems that pavements in Taiwan are mostly reserved for parking, rather than walking. –That is, of course, an exaggeration. Scooters and motorcycles are not parked on all sidewalks in Taipei. However, they are nearly always parked in such a way that if you are trying to get to the sidewalk from the street—even at the corner, by a traffic light, you will often find your way blocked by a line of scooters, much like the stereotypical scenes of bikers parked outside of a bar. This makes it extremely difficult to make it to the pavement from the street.

Anyway…it’s really annoying.