Some towns drive you to put your foot on the gas pedal, to get out of there as fast as possible.
Other communities entice you to linger. Sashay through a park, saunter into a plaza, then pause on a bench to people-watch.
Dan Burden, founder of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute in Port Townsend, hopes to guide those drive-through towns into new, enticing life, as locales where locals and visitors alike can actually enjoy moving about on foot.
Burden, who’s easily spotted in his neon-orange vest, travels almost incessantly to cities around North America where local governments hire him to advise on walkability.
Recently, though, he’s been seen in downtown Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend.
On his walks, Burden looks at the positive aspects of places — and he had no trouble finding those here.
The future is bright, he said, for the North Olympic Peninsula’s three most populous cities.
And one of these days, Burden said, he hopes to get to Forks to look at that West End city’s walkability, too.
Port Angeles
In Port Angeles, Burden is working with the city on its Waterfront and Transportation Improvement Plan, or WTIP, aimed at making the waterfront friendlier to people using cars, bicycles and feet.
This week, community members can join the discussion inside the WTIP studio at 106 N. Laurel St., as Burden and Studio Cascade, a Spokane consulting firm, hold an “art slam” to brainstorm ideas for public art on the waterfront, at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Next come “concept forums” on waterfront design at 6 p.m. Wednesday, and both 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday.
More details about these events are available at www.pa-waterfront.org or by phoning Port Angeles Assistant Planner Robert Korcz at 360-417-4804.
Fortified by coffee at the Itty Bitty Buzz on First Street, Burden took off last Monday on a long walk through downtown Port Angeles.
“It’s an authentic downtown,” he observed. “The streets orient beautifully with the water, and of course the mountains . . . It’s a tremendous town for walking to increase in popularity.”
Port Angeles has a true heart, a center worth nourishing, he added — and it has just about everything a person could need, from groceries to sporting goods.
“You don’t need to get in your car and go out to the ‘burbs,” he said.
And First Street, even with its street parking, has room for bicycle lanes.
“It’s a slam dunk; write the work order,” Burden said.
To prove his point, he walked onto the asphalt and gestured east and west, as cars cruised past.
Sequim
Then it was on to downtown Sequim.
There, Burden tried to take photographs of the flowing car traffic on Washington Street, but drivers kept yielding to him.
“The traffic was behaving itself,” he said.
Strolling down Washington Street, Burden found a feature that was new to him: a LifeTrail exercise station, one of several kiosks installed in 2004.
This one instructs passers-by to execute a back-strengthening exercise, out in front of the Seal Street parking lot.
Kiosk ‘a total delight’
The kiosk “is a total delight,” Burden said, adding that everywhere he goes — and he’s consulted for 3,000 cities — he finds something he’s never seen before.
What he has seen a lot of are giant chain stores, like the ones on the outskirts of Sequim and Port Angeles.
But he doesn’t disrespect them.
“You don’t want to give up on the big box stores. People still need them,” Burden said.
Here, as elsewhere in the country, he believes in the potential for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers to peacefully coexist.
The institute doesn’t push for diminishment of cars, Burden said, as much as it promotes equal access for all.
In Sequim, the City Council and Planning Department this year established the “rethinking” of transportation as a top priority; the city is also in the process of developing a town center plan that emphasizes walkability, said Associate Planner Joe Irvin.
A community visioning workshop for the downtown plan is slated for the first week of November.
Irvin added that the city recently re-striped Fifth Avenue, from just north of Washington Street to Old Olympic Highway, to add bicycle lanes — an inexpensive measure that’s part of Sequim’s move toward a bike-friendly community.
Port Townsend
Next stop for Burden was Port Townsend, his home since the beginning of this year.
He hailed the rain gardens downtown, the new Northwest Maritime Center and “that marvelous staircase” ascending from the Haller Fountain on Taylor Street up to uptown.
These are things that make one want to slow down and enjoy life.
“But even as fun and friendly as Port Townsend is, there are some tough areas,” Burden added.
He pointed to Jefferson Healthcare hospital on Sheridan Avenue, where people in wheelchairs or with any kind of mobility problem will have a difficult time getting anywhere.
The place “could use some help,” acknowledged David Peterson, Port Townsend city engineer.
He’s applied for a state grant to put in a sidewalk, and said the area surrounding the hospital is “one of our highest priorities.”
Burden still calls Port Townsend his place to “recharge and refresh.”
A walkable community is a healthy one, as it gives people a chance to exercise and socialize.
Walking velocity
Burden enjoys another form of research: observing others’ walking velocity.
In New York City, he’s watched people streaming at 4 to 5 mph and figured “they’re on their way up the ladder.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Burden has noticed what he calls “romance speed.”
When a couple is traveling at 0.5 to 1.5 mph, he believes, chances are they’re in love.
He said this in downtown Port Angeles, which has an ideal attraction for such pedestrians: the lavish First Street window displays of Black Diamond Bridal.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.