Every Road in Cambridge

I enjoy a long walk, and I am a completionist (a word I made up) - I like to do everything of something, no matter how small the something is.

During the pandemic in 2020, I set out (initially by accident) to walk every street in Cambridge - plus some others. This is a tracking of that adventure.

The Basics

I started walking on March 16, 2020, and finished my quest on June 25, 2021 - 466 days later. I only actually walked on 118 of those days, meaning over 75% of this time involved sitting at home.

Overall, I covered approximately 419 miles on these walks - an average of 3.55 per excursion. Cambridge only has ~150 centerline miles of roadway, so my attempt was very inefficient! I walked many of the streets closest to my home in Cambridgeport repeatedly, and generally valued not doubling-back on myself in a single walk, which left many gaps in coverage that needed to be addressed later. I also did not count walks that had a purpose (going to work, running errands, etc) - only those specifically for the quest were included.

During these walks, I primarily listed to podcasts, including my first listens to what I think are the two best podcast episodes ever made:

• 99% Invisible - The Smell of Concrete After Rain

• Reply All - The Case of the Missing Hit

Extremes and Interesting Facts

• First Walk - from my home in Cambridgeport, up to Putnam Square (Mass Ave, Mt Auburn St, and Putnam Ave), and back

• Last Walk - from home, weaving through back streets up to the last streets to be covered, ending at Tierney Street in West Cambridge, followed by a celebratory slice at Armando’s, and a long walk home along the Charles

• Longest Walk - 7.46 miles, Martin Luther King Day 2021 (Monday, January 18) - from home covering much of Neighborhood Nine and Avon Hill (average temp that day of 38 degrees)

• Shortest Walk - 1.29 miles, Sunday, August 30 - through some small streets near home, including Peabody Terrace (average temp that day of 70 degrees)

• Longest Walk on a work day - 5.53 miles, Monday, May 31 - sorry to my employer!

• Most Consecutive Days Walking - 8, Tuesday April 28 through Tuesday May 5 2020, covering 19.27 miles, mostly in The Port, with two excursions to Lower Allston

• Longest Gap Between Walks - 14 days, twice - in August 2020 (it was hot!) and February 2021 (it was cold!)

• Average Distances - Increased significantly by month as the quest got closer to completion, but far-flung places needed to be covered. In March, April and May 2020, I took 55 walks (55%) but covered only 139 miles (33%). From September 1, 2020 to the end, I had only 3 walks less than 3 miles (all around Christmas), and averaged almost 5 miles per walk.

• Favorite Days - half of all walks took place on weekends, totaling over half the distance walked (split almost equally between Saturday and Sunday). During weekdays, I preferred to walk on Mondays and Wednesdays, with the lowest count and distance coming on Tuesdays (a measly 11 walks averaging 2.36 miles).

The Map!

Some day I hope to animate this, but for now, you can click along to every individual walk. Enjoy!