Night Walk to School

Living in inner-city Minneapolis comes with a unique urban culture. Last year the MCAD intranet was constantly posting robberies and assaults of MCAD students in the surrounding neighborhoods. As such, MCAD public safety and the local police discourage walking alone at nigh. So, I wanted to see what it was really like. It was a nice warm evening about 11:00pm and I was headed from my house to MCAD for some late-night printing. I decided it would be a great opportunity to walk at a time when I had never walked alone. I have previously walked at night, but always with friends.

Right away my first instinct was to avoid trouble, take the quiet path. I usually walk straight up Third but this night I decided to take the next block over, Clinton. There weren’t any people in sight, so I trudged on. I soon noticed the only moving thing in sight was my shadow. I became quite fascinated with this other figure, sort of like a companion. I tried to take a picture but it failed.

The shadow was being produced by street lamps, which there seemed to be no shortage of. This was a relief, however, I didn’t feel like being in the dark. The street lamps led me to other light sources, attached to buildings. Most homes were dark, except windows that were lit up. Most apartment buildings had floodlights creating a barrier around the building. Light truly defines space at night. There is a distinction, perhaps more than during the daytime that says, “…this lit up area here, that’s mine, and you don’t belong.” I have to say that the places that felt most unwelcoming had no light at all.

I have never been especially afraid of the dark, even as a child, so I didn’t feel uncomfortable walking, just cautious. After a few more blocks it occurred to me that I was less likely to find myself in a harmful situation if there were more people around, so I walked towards Third. Here I found a bit more action, cars and lights. Before long, I was at school and safe.

I definitely feel that walking at night is more of a risk than during the day, however being aware of my surroundings is important to me at anytime of day. I don’t feel that walking at night is any longer a barrier to walking.