Walking shifted from urban necessity to a niche recreational pursuit in modern cities

Evidence

Finally, some note should be made of the reduced necessity for walking in the modern city. This particular activity remains legal, but the extent to which it is approved is questionable. Like other historic necessities (for example, cooking over fire), it has, in the modern world, become largely a recreational activity, indulged in by masochistic cultists. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 395

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Bears on the flâneur theme of the reader’s purpose — walking as a relic pastime complicates Cole’s wandering observer figure, whose street-level traversal is now anachronistic.
• XREF: connects to: Parks are society’s best hope for teaching fruitful use of leisure — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 608