Registration now open for the September Forum:
The Case for Walkability: Health, Economic Development and Sustainability
Sept 19th, Bangor Maine
By Lynne Seeley
I heard a saying once – birds love to fly, fish love to swim, and dogs love to walk. I can attest to the “dogs love to walk” part of that saying. Little did I realize when we adopted our dog ten years ago, how central the idea of walkability would be in my life – our dog loves to walk, up to 3 times a day! Because we adopted the dog for our then 12-year-old son, I thought he would be the one walking our furry friend. And he did, for a little while. But then he took interest in other things, went off to college, and the dog walking fell to me. So I have done a lot of walking over the past many years, and the dog is still walking, at 16. So walkability is something I think about and experience every day.
When you walk, life slows down. When you walk, you notice more details, you discover things. When you walk, you have time to think, ideas can germinate. When you walk, you meet other people, you have occasion for conversation. When you walk, you get exercise, you feel good. When you walk, life expands.
My community is a walkable community, with sidewalks, paths and trails. And people walk, lots of people. I have met so many people on my walks. Whether it is a sidewalk, a path or a trail, when you build it, walkers will come. And when walkers come, places come alive. When I walk, there is an energy that is hard to explain, but it is real, a positive energy. If we all walked about our daily lives, if all our communities invited us to walk, just imagine…….
Lynne Seeley is a Community Planning Consultant and a GrowSmart Maine board member.
Reserve your seat now for the September Forum:
The Case for Walkability: Health, Economic Development and Sustainability Sept 19th, Bangor Maine
