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Talking
about walking about
Melvyn D. Magree Originally published in the Northland Reader now the Reader Weekly January 25, 2001 On two recent walks in my neighborhood, I considered how a walk should be the start of city planning. Instead of thinking big with multi-million dollar developments for companies headquartered outside Duluth, why don’t we start small with a bit of personal effort in our own neighborhoods? Both walks were after snowfalls. Both walks were a bit difficult because many sidewalks hadn’t been shoveled after two or more snowfalls. I don’t have to walk on my errands; I could hop in a car and drive the mile or so to Mt. Royal or to UMD. Others have no choice: children going to Chester Park Elementary or Woodland Middle Schools, students going to UMD, and people who have to take a bus. A winter walk can be merely tiring or it can be risky. When the snow is over two inches deep, a pedestrian no longer has a smooth surface to walk on. If not many people have passed by, the pedestrian has to contend with a set of holes. If many people have passed by, the pedestrian has to contend with a set of bumps. In either case, the irregularities are such that people walk with their feet twisting in all directions. This can be costly to the pedestrian, to the homeowner, and to all of us. For the pedestrian it costs, at a minimum, more personal energy. It could cost in automotive energy if the pedestrian is discouraged from walking. It could cost more if the pedestrian is injured, most obviously in a fall, but more likely in muscle damage. For the homeowner there is the obvious risk of being sued by an injured pedestrian. There is also the rather low risk of being fined for not keeping the sidewalk clear. For all of us there are a long list of hidden costs for unshoveled sidewalks whether we walk, drive, or take the bus. If fewer people walk instead of drive, then there is a bigger demand for gasoline. If there is a bigger demand for gasoline, then gasoline will cost more. If people are injured walking we all pay the insurance premiums to pay for medical care. Last year I developed plantar fascitis, an inflammation of the tendon-like tissue from the heel to the ball of the foot. It developed from walking on uneven, unshoveled sidewalks. It was painful for me to even walk to the garage or the bus stop. The physical therapy to ease, not eliminate, this condition was $900! It didn’t come directly out of my pocket but it came out of all of our pockets in the medical insurance premiums we pay. So, if you keep your sidewalk clear of snow and ice, you can help make Duluth a better city. Keeping sidewalks clear is only a start to making Duluth a better city. There are many other relatively small projects that make a city attractive to walk in. Take for example the Skywalk between downtown and the DECC. It is a long, boring walk in a gray square tube. There are three things to look at. Traffic on the freeway, how exciting! The posters for Omnimax, that’s a minute of diversion. And the curling club, that’s worth five or ten minutes if you have time. Once you get to the DECC, you are greeted by grilles and locked doors, confusing corridors, and not much else. Hey, the staff at the ticket office is friendly; that’s a plus. There are some pleasing areas like the fountain by the ballroom but there is no visual connectedness from one part to another. After you leave an event at the DECC, you have the long walk back. Most likely the curling club is closed. At the end you see a bored, private security guard waiting for you to get out of the Skywalk so he can lock up. There is very little to do at the other end but wait for a bus in a small crowd, a crowd many people find unappealing. Of course, that’s if you go to the DECC on a week night. If you go on a weekend night, then there are no buses. So you might as well drive, which everybody does. It would be a small start to hang the work of local artists along the Skywalk. Or have local artists paint murals on the walls. Even if the murals were “weird” it would be better than the current gray. Why not have somebody paint borders around the windows over the freeway? It would be far more interesting than watching cars and trucks whizzing by. Modern museums often offer some public participation. Why not put up a several whiteboards and bulletin boards along the Skywalk to the DECC? The basic rule for the whiteboard would be that others should feel free to write over or clear anything on the white board. The basic rule for the bulletin boards should be that everything must be dated and may be removed in a few days. However people arrive at their destination, most of them spend time there walking, even if it is from the parking spot to the office, shop, or restaurant. For a city to be great, they must find more than one place to walk to. Rather than go to the office coffee pot, many people in a great city go to a nearby coffee shop. At Rockefeller Center in New York City, the bagel shop on the ground floor is very popular. In Duluth, Kelly’s Coffee* on the Skywalk may not have long lines, but it is a hub where one can meet many people by chance. Unfortunately, many American cities cater only to office workers. When the offices close, so do the shops. Except for a few restaurants and theaters, many downtowns are dark. Canal Park is an exception but it is disconnected from both the DECC and downtown. The people in the hotels on the lake may stroll through the shops but not necessarily the people in the downtown hotels. It is a cold, windy walk across the freeway on the Lake Avenue bridge. Even Canal Park caters more to the automobile than people. The hotels are separated from the shops by parking lots. The block itself is split by parking lots that have no walkways reserved for people. For example, the shortest way from the Hawthorne Suites to Northern Lights Books is through two parking lots separated by a chain. If we can get more people walking, we have greater demand for human-scale cities. If we have greater demand for human-scale cities, we may attract more humans. More humans might create more small businesses. And more small businesses might mean more jobs. If you think cities should be for people rather than autos and large buildings, you have a chance to be heard. The first public planning forum** will be Tuesday, Jan. 30th at 7:00 p.m. in the Lake Superior Ballroom at the DECC. If you don’t want to take the long, gray walk to this event, DECC parking is free that evening. Conflict of interest note: Mel “sings” in the same church choir that the Kelly’s sing in. Notes added September 2007 * Kelly's Coffee closed a few years ago. John Kelly died on Feb. 14, 2005. ** The planning forums eventually led to a comprehensive plan. The district planning meetings have started to fizzle to a few participants. ©2001, 2007 Melvyn D. Magree |