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Seeking advice about "selling" the idea of sidewalks
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wpbu-@aol.com
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Oct 23, 2009 19:24 PDT
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-----Original Message-----
From: Ratko, Wesley [WRa-@montcopa.org]
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 10:54 PM
To: Dan Burden
Subject: Seeking advice about "selling" the idea of sidewalks
Dear Mr. Burden-
I am a planner with the Montgomery County Planning Commission in Montgomery
County, Pennsylvania, a suburban county just outside Philadelphia. I found your
website on Walkable Communities and am hoping you might be able to help me.
I have been tasked with producing some kind of marketing material (brochure,
newsletter, etc.) that will serve to convince municipal decision-makers in our
county that sidewalks are a good idea. For too long, requirements for sidewalks
in new developments throughout our county have been waved by municipal officials
who see them as unwanted by residents and unnecessary in an auto-dependent
community. The municipal governments have final say over all land use decisions
under our "home rule" charter, and the County serves a mostly advisory role.
The best we can do is reach out and convince them sidewalks are necessary and
requirements for sidewalks should not be waved by zoning hearing boards.
I am unsure how to proceed and am writing to ask if you can direct me to
materials produced by some other community that sought to accomplish something
similar to what I'm doing. Have you ever seen a "pro-sidewalk" campaign mounted
on the part of a county or regional government that targeted the smaller
constituent municipalities? Any help you can provide me with would be very much
appreciated.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Best,
Wesley Ratko
Transportation Planner
Montgomery County Planning Commission
610-278-3734 Phone
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Burden <dbur-@Glatting.com>
Sent: Tue, Oct 20, 2009 7:35 am
Subject: RE: Seeking advice about "selling" the idea of sidewalks
I will check with a few friends and associates for their suggestions. Your cause is noble; your people are lost;
their arguments are out of date... just how out of date is a bit scary. You need to get the health community on your side.
They can act as significant champions of change. In Olympia, Washington, you will find a great model
for bringing about needed walkability through a local action group.
We can help write such a document, if there are none that are close enough. It will also help to have guidance on
when sidewalks are necessary. Sidewalks are not an absolute. And, it may be that sidewalks are the "tip of the iceberg"...
or the detractor if you have other oversights. Strip development and light density are very big, ugly and sick issues.
To that end, I am posting our healthy development checklist to the Walkable Communities website (www.walkable.org).
Here is the direct link:
http://www.walkable.org/assets/downloads/healthy_development_checklist.pdf
I will be back in touch.
Dan Burden, Co-Founder, Walkable Communities, Inc.
614-595-0976 (cell)
Walking Audits teach us how to see. "Learn about a pine tree from a pine tree, and about a bamboo plant from a bamboo plant." - Matsuo Basho
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