Expert will talk the walk

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jan 14, 2004 | by TOM RAGAN THE GAZETTE

MANITOU SPRINGS - Dan Burden, who's helped dozens of cities become more "walkable," will visit Manitou Springs next week to help make the city more pedestrian-friendly.

The Manitou Springs Economic Development Council will host Burden on Tuesday when he will walk downtown for most of the morning, then offer his suggestions at a pair of special workshops later in the day, said Kitty Clemens, director of the Manitou EDC.

Burden, a Missoula, Mont., native who is director of the Floridabased Walkable Communities Inc., will be paid $1,400 plus airfare.

The cities Burden has made more walkable include Bradenton Beach, West Palm Beach, South Miami Beach, Gainesville and Venice in Florida; Austin, Texas; San Diego and Santa Monica, Calif.; and Eugene, Ore.

Manitou Springs has received a little more than $500,000 in federal grants to make improvements to its historic downtown, including widening the sidewalks along Manitou Avenue, putting up streetlights and burying utility lines.

The improvements are outlined in the city's master plan, which was adopted in 1998 but has not been implemented, Clemens said.

"We need to make Manitou Springs a more walkable community," she said. "And when you make your community walkable, it's good for the economy."

Clemens said Burden will take pictures and personalize his observations in a digital presentation, which he'll make at 1 and 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.

The engineers who are carrying out the city's master plan, Nolte & Associates of Colorado Springs, will hear what he has to say.

Clemens said the economic benefits of a walkable community are widely documented.

Recent research by the Wisconsin-based Center for Community Economic Development, showed home buyers are willing to pay more for houses in a community when public spaces are designed for walkability.

The number of tourists also increase when towns come up with more pedestrian-friendly amenities, such as wider sidewalks where people can take a rest from shopping.

Walking also improves the overall health of citizens, Clemens said, and reducing vehicular emissions helps plants, watersheds and the health of wildlife.