Tacoma officials have been working hard to put feet on the street — at least downtown — for some time now. For those of you still thinking city officials have failed miserably, Dan Burden wants to remind you that it’s way easier to talk that talk than it is to walk that walk. The fact is, like most other cities, Tacoma’s current urban landscape reflects our favored mode of transportation — cars. If we want to put people on the street again, we must re-calibrate our environment and rethink our travel habits.



Sounds easy, right? Not exactly. 



National walkability expert Burden recently provided his perspective on Tacoma’s potential for becoming a biped friendly burg during a brief break from a seminal Northwest tour of walkable cities. Most of the cities on the list were within walking distance of Microsoft — Issaquah, Bellevue, Kirkland, and Sammamish. Also on the list were Vancouver, B.C., Langley and University Place. Each of those cities has achieved something special and exceedingly rare, says Burden. Each is a pleasant place to take a walk.



“It was only recently that we forgot how to build cities that are walkable,” he told folks in fairly-packed Carwein Auditorium Monday. “If we want to make our communities walkable, it’s going to take a cultural shift.”



Burden says the best walkable communities are based on common sense. In its heyday, Key West, Fl., was one of the most walkable cities in the states. Key West was built by Gulf Coast pirates, who were not generally known for their architectural acumen. Alexandria, Va., which was designed by a marginally educated George Washington, is still one of the most walkable communities around. Both of those cities were built for pedestrians and are characterized by key qualities. Those qualities include a healthy balance of travel options, including cars; tightly packed clusters of amenities and attractions, easily traversed in five minutes or less; attractive streetscapes; and about 12 other features. If anyone gives you a bumper sticker-length solution to walkability, they’re missing the point, says Burden.



“We need to pay more attention to the complexity of cities,” he says, “rather than looking for a silver bullet.”



Tacoma has good bones, says Burden, and already sports many of the features that make for walkability — wide sidewalks, nice streetscapes and good public transportation. But like other cities, the design of our roads makes walking a hassle.



“Our weakness is our intersections,” says Tacoma’s official Commute Trip Reduction Coordinator and Urban Planner Diane Wiatr.



Challenges in Tacoma hinge on financing of public projects, says Wiatr, who mentions a voter-backed financing referendum among funding mechanisms being considered. Meanwhile, resources for making the community walkable are limited, with city planners working hard to make the most of what funding is available. A recent walking audit also confirmed concerns that sidewalks and streetscapes don’t meet basic Americans with Disabilities Act standards, which Wiatr says is among her top priorities.



“We have to decide how we are going to approach this with limited resources,” she says.

12 steps to walkability

• Provide continuously linked walkways


• Make traffic intersections pedestrian friendly


• Make sure your walkways accommodate the needs of disabled people


• Maximize visibility of traffic and walk signals


• Make sure there’s plenty of light


• Provide medians for crossings with more than five lanes


• Provide specific pedestrian access points near schools


• Minimize the possibility of cars intersecting with walkways


• Provide access to areas of activity independent of vehicle access


• Create no-auto and no-parking zones in busy areas


• Link walkable areas with access to transit


• Make sure infill development favors walking over driving

Source: Florida Department of Transportation