The postman has a shiny new bicycle! Bright blue and yellow. And his uniform matches! He had been walking and delivering the mail for the 17 years I've lived here. Progress! An increase in productivity? There is no junk mail here, unlike the US. The new bike has a lockable box on the rear and a basket on the front. Room for small packages. Larger packages are delivered by motorcycle or small van. I receive two, maybe three letters per year. US Social Security cost of living notice and income statement. Every two years I get a "proof of life" letter that I have to sign and mail back to the US. But not this year. The proof of life form has been suspended indefinitely for some reason, but I did get a letter notifying me of the suspension.
In other news, we have a raised pedestrian crosswalk in Pontal. Slows the traffic down, and it makes it easier for my trike to cross the street. Real progress! The curb cuts are difficult to negotiate on a trike. May be worse for a wheelchair, or maybe the larger diameter wheels on a wheelchair make it easier? Maybe the municipality will build more bike lanes? I can get around my neighborhood pretty well, mostly to the three meter (10 feet) wide sidewalk along the bay. And the neighborhood streets are mostly cobblestone, which slows the cars, making it safer for pedestrians and bikes. And the one trike in town.
My neighborhood is Pontal, in Ilhéus. I've lived here for 17 years. Pontal is a 15 minute neighborhood, by my reckoning, with my apologies to Anne Hidalgo. It's a 15 minute walk from the center of the neighborhood to its edges. Well defined edges, ocean on the east, bays on the north and west sides, and the airport runway on the south. A veritable island, an old guy told me shortly after I moved here. Only one road in and out. And there was a crossbar to block off the road at the end of the runway, or there was a vestige of the mechanism beside the road, long since removed. And there is even a hill with a restaurant on top with a great view of the bay and neighborhood.
I live on the eastern side, about 50 meters from the ocean seawall. For ten years I lived a block away, only 20 meters from the seawall, but that apartment was razed to make way for the new four lane highway on the beach. I never thought anyone would pave the beach. I remember the Embarcadero in San Francisco — close to the water, I guess you could say. I still have a partial ocean view from my third floor apartment, though the neighbors keep adding floors to their houses that decrease my view. And I have a nice breeze that obviates the need for air conditioning.
I have several restaurants within a few blocks. The airport (IOS) is an 8 minute walk. There are shops on what the Brits would call a "high street" that provide the basics for everyday living even closer. My street turns into a passarela at the other end, with a couple dozen bars and restaurants at night, but my end of the street is residential. Most of the restaurants here have outside seating. Every evening throughout the year the temperature is perfect for al fresco dining. I thought there was no zoning here, like Houston, but an architect showed me a map and explained that the neighborhood is zoned C-2, which allows commercial and residential use, but no factories. So most of Pontal is a mixture of shops, bars and restaurants mixed in with apartment buildings and houses of all sizes. There is what I would call a "mansion" next door, and a three meter house across the street. There was a burger joint next to the small house for a while. Very convenient for an American.
And there is the new bridge. Four lanes over the bay of Pontal to downtown. It's a 20 minute walk. There is a pedestrian sidewalk on one side, and a bike path on the other. A new addition this year is electric scooters that you can rent by the minute. The scooters are scattered around Ilhéus and make for easy and quick transport close to the ocean. And there are four lanes from downtown going south through Pontal to the south beaches. The last two of the five miles is being widened to four lanes now. When that is complete, you can drive from downtown to Cururupe, where a river runs into the sea, a nice beach with several cabanas with the usual good Bahian food. There are 20+ cabanas between the airport and Cururupe. It is now being developed into residential towers and single family homes of all sizes.
Ilhéus is changing. Most noticeable is the new development between the airport and Cururupe, but other neighborhoods are changing. Gentrifying, you might call it. Many of the plazas have been renovated in recent years. Pontal has almost no vacant land available to build on, but you can buy a house and add on a floor or two, as my neighbors are doing. Still seems odd to me to just add a floor to your house when you have more kids or just have the money to build. You don't just add a floor to your stick house in the US. Well, maybe a Brazilian in California would. And did.
Pontal is what I would call a 15 minute neighborhood. It has everything you need, two bays, an ocean and an airport. It's a veritable island. Walkable by geography, not by design.