City to receive foot-traffic advice
Link (JG)

“City staff and downtown advocates will have the chance today to learn how to make the city’s core friendlier for pedestrians, bicyclists and all modes of transportation.

Dan Burden, executive director of Walkable Communities Inc., a non-profit corporation that promotes pedestrian-friendly cities and towns, toured Fort Wayne’s downtown on foot Wednesday morning.

He said the downtown has a good basic structure, including its block layout and use of rivers. What is missing is a few blocks that are fully alive for people to see the potential of the area.”

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“Fort Wayne invited Burden to help lay the foundation for a downtown transportation plan that encompasses more than cars.

Burden said vital downtowns give residents a sense of place and pride in their community.

“People want to bump into one another, and you can’t do that in the ’burbs,” he said.

Burden said Fort Wayne’s location among so many different cities could work out perfectly when high-speed rail travel comes to the area, saying people will want to live in Fort Wayne and work in Chicago, or vice-versa.”