Berkeley man determined to walk every street in his city
BERKELEY - A Berkeley man has set out to walk every single street of his city and, after three years, he still isn't finished.
"David Letterman once said, 'Everything worth doing is worth overdoing,'" quoted Brian Bischof. "It's fun to have hard goals that you can whittle away at over time."
Using an app to track his progress, Bischof, his wife Valentina, and their husky Ravioli are headed to North Berkeley to try and clear some of the stubborn bits of red off his map.
"No red is good news," he said pointing at his map on his phone. "When it's completely gold colored, that's the thing you're seeking."
It all started during the pandemic when Bischof, a mathematician, would go on long walks with Ravioli to pass the time. Soon, his daily strolls turned into a numbers game that needed to be solved.
"I got more and more into it and every single walk with ravioli have to be unique," he said laughing. "It just kind of spiraled."
Bischof is part of a growing number of people dubbed 'Every-Single Streeters', urban adventurers who, during the pandemic, gained a deep appreciation for hyper-local exploration.
"What I've noticed is there are quite a few people just in my circles who are getting into this. San Francisco is really popular, and I know some people that are trying to do Oakland," he said.
In the last three years, his app says he's walked 289 miles. Though the real number, he suspects, is much higher.
"Every walk that I go on has a lot of miles in addition to what's new and unique because either I have to get there or there's connecting roads that I've already done," he explained.
So far, he's gone through five different pairs of shoes, pounding about 99 percent of Berkeley's pavement. But the last one percent has been a challenge.
Some roads are blocked off. Others are privately owned. Not to mention, digital maps are constantly being updated, with more streets and back alleys added daily.
And while you might not understand his obsession, don't judge. At least until you've walked 289 miles in his shoes.
"Now, when I travel, one of the things that's on my list to do is walk around a lot and that's a really amazing way to see new places," he said.