Dan Burden, articulate on how to create walkable communities

Americans walk less on a regular basis than the residents of almost every other comparable country.  We’re also one of the most unfit and overweight countries in the world.  We need to address both issues at once by making our communities more walkable.  Unfortunately, that can be a tall order in some cities and suburbs that have been designed to prioritize automobile traffic, and in which walking is inconvenient and dangerous.

In the excellent video below, produced by Smart Growth America, Dan Burden explains what we need to do, with an emphasis on establishing models.  You can’t find a better source of expertise on the subject:  Dan is likely the nation’s most recognized authority on walkability, bicycle & pedestrian programs, street corridor & intersection design, traffic flow & calming, road diets, and other planning elements that affect roadway environments. Dan has 37 years of experience in designing neighborhoods, villages, and cities for more active, interactive, and healthy living.

Enjoy and learn:

Related posts:

• 40 percent of Americans believe their neighborhoods are not walkable (October 3, 2013)
• How retrofitting a California suburb for walkability is spurring economic development (January 4, 2013)
• US obesity rates continue to soar, in part because of automobile dependence (May 9, 2012)
• Photos of willful ignorance that people need to walk, ride transit and bicycle (June 7, 2010)
• Walkability 101-A, by Roger Lewis (May 10, 2010)

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Kaid Benfield writes about community, development, and the environment on Switchboard and in the national media. Kaid’s new book is People Habitat: 25 Ways to Think About Greener, Healthier Cities, distributed by Island Press and available from booksellers nationwide.