According to a concerned 1997 article in the Boston Globe, the United States spent less than one percent of its transportation budget on facilities for pedestrians (行人) . Actually, I’’m surprised it was that much. Go to almost any suburb developed in the last 30 years, and you will not find a sidewalk anywhere. Often you won’’t find a single pedestrian crossing. I was made fully aware of this one summer when we were driving across Maine and stopped for coffee in one of those endless zones of shopping malls (购物中心) , motels, gas stations and fast-food places. I noticed there was a bookstore across the street, so I decided to forget coffee and go there to have a look. Although the bookshop was no more than 70 or 80 feet away, I discovered that there was no way to cross over six lanes of swiftly moving traffic on foot without putting myself in er. In the end, I had to get in our car and drive across. At the time, it seemed ridiculous and annoying, but afterward I realized that I was possibly the only person ever to have thought of crossing the street on foot. The fact is, we not only don’’t walk anywhere anymore in this country, we won’’t walk anywhere, and dislike anyone who tries to make US, as the city of Laconia, N.H. discovered. In the early 1970s, Laconia spent millions on a comprehensive renewal project, which included building a pedestrian mall to make shopping more pleasant. Esthetically (美学上) it was a triumph— planners came from all over to praise and take photos—but commercially it was a disaster. Forced to walk one whole block from a parking garage, shoppers abandoned downtown Laconia for sub malls. In 1994 Laconia dug up its pretty paving blocks, took away the flowers and decorative trees, and brought back the cars. Now people can park right in front of the stores again, and downtown Laconia thrives again. And if that isn’’t sad, I don’’t know what is. What is sad according to the author