Los Gatos / Monte Sereno has places where walking is fine and other places where walking is just weird. As a visitor it used to be confusing working out which was which.

Gilroy Outlets are separated by roads and it's really hard to cross from one bit to the other. Part of the reason it's so hard to cross is that drivers just aren't used to seeing pedestrians at the various crosswalks and they seem to forget the rules of the road - they sort of stop and wave you over. That's nice but dangerous because other cars are not stopping unless the lights tell them too.

Sand Diego had some similarly confusing bits where walking is fien and other bits where walking was for weirdos.

So, even though this is very likited experience, I sympathise with people who say that walking as a mode of transport is an oddity.