Why can't we walk?

The rule I remember growing up is that students within two miles of school walked to school. I attended one elementary school within the same subdivision as me, but others walked from farther away, including crossing a relatively busy street (important enough to put both a stoplight and a crossing guard at the crosswalk).

I spoke to a co-worker, who lives quite close to school, but his kids can't walk. The excuse is these are county roads without sidewalks. (Like we kids ever stayed on the sidewalks!) I wonder how much of it is really fear of getting sued?

So if you wonder why American kids are so overweight, maybe this is a reason.

A similar harangue: why can't I find stairs? I used to take the stairs frequently at the office. But if I'm in a hotel, for example, I can't find stairs by the elevators. In some cases, I've found a staircase, only to find that it only goes outside, or it doesn't connect to the lobby level without going through storage or the kitchen.

We'd all benefit if we walked a little more. Why are we making it so hard to do so?