The National League of Cities is Hosting a Free Webinar on Walkability!

What’s Walking Got to do With it? A Look at the Economic and Social Impact of Walkability

Thursday, June 19 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm EDT

To register click here.

Walking is a critical component of our country’s urban transportation system and a practical transportation choice with powerful benefits for both individuals and their communities.  The potential for increased walking is enormous: one quarter of all trips in the United States are less than one mile in length, but only a quarter of these are made by walking.  Providing more walking facilities helps enhance access to other modes of travel, improves air quality and other environmental benefits, and contributes to health and other quality of life factors.   The National League of Cities will be hosting a webinar with America Walks and Smart Growth America to look at how increasing walkability has had an impact in Columbia, MO and Arlington County, VA.  Current and former local officials will discuss the economic and social benefits their communities have seen and how they have gone about to get public support and the financing in place to build pedestrian facilities.  The speakers will address the role federal dollars have played in their pedestrian-related initiatives and the importance of them in leveraging funding from other sources to build walking projects that are meeting the needs of their communities and  advancing social, economic, and environmental goals.

Speakers

Chris Zimmerman, Vice President for Economic Development, Smart Growth America and former Board Member, Arlington County, Virginia

Council Member Ian Thomas, PhD, City of Columbia, Missouri and Board Member, America Walks

Summer Minnick is the Director of Policy Initiatives and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at 517-908-0301 or [email protected].