“The problem is there’s not a lot of options housing-wise.”
Grace Crampsie Smith
“There’s more to the City than just north and south; we need to make sure that
public transportation goes everywhere.”
Rachel Leon
“It’s not necessarily if you build it, they will come.
Kiera Wilhelm
“We need to create the infrastructure that creates a more dense and walkable city.”
Hillary Kwiatek
“One of the things that we could de better is educate the residents about
the trails that we do have.”
Bryan Callahan
“We must first recognize that our streets are not built for pedestrians.”
Willie Reynolds
“There might be opportunities to close the streets more frequently and just create the
area where pedestrians feel a little more welcome.”
Dana Grubb
This is the last post taken from the candidates’ productive visit to the Environmental Advisory Council meeting on April 1.
The responses are short. Listen to the voices. Sometimes you can tell a lot.
What do you think the City could do to allow more people to live in and around our downtown areas where they could walk and bike for their daily transportation needs and be less reliant on a car?
Grace Crampsie Smith
- need housing available for people with multiple income levels
- cf. her work on inclusionary housing
- knows a lot of people who want to live downtown
- my friends and I walk down ton all the time
- The problem is there’s not a lot of options housing wise
- a lot of high-end luxury apartments going in downtown
- also need more and accessible biking paths
- safe sidewalks
- bike program like in Philly
Rachel Leon
- affordable housing
- public transit system
- bike lanes
- study where bikes aren’t safe
- pedestrian bridge
- public transportation must go everywhere
Kiera Wilhelm
- agree with everything that’s been said
- safe sidewalks
- bike lanes
- educate people
- not just build and they will come
- must tell people in multiple, accessible ways
Hillary Kwiatek
- on the Southside many people walk most places
- dangerous crossing on north side of Fahy bridge
- pedestrian bridge would make it more walkable
- create infrastructure
Bryan Callahan
- we could do a better job educating about our trails
- beautiful trail system
- need to reconnect some pieces of it
- need to keep updating all intersections with ADA ramps
- handicapped want to enjoy the environment like everybody else
- appropriated more money for that in the budget
Willie Reynolds
- streets are not built for pedestrians but cars
- Linden, Center, Broad — too wide
- must make it easier for people to walk and cross streets
- streets as dividers that break up communities
- create master plans and gradually work on them
- too many places where people choose to drive because conditions for walking are not good
- Bethlehem Food Co-Op
- hope for Linden and Broad changes getting underway soon
Dana Grubb
- experiences on D&L Trail led him to reconstitute the Department of Parks and Recreation
- poorly maintained
- boardwalk on Monocacy Way deplorable
- reinvest in those areas because they are ways to walk downtown
- supports pedestrian bridge for biking
- bridge in Jim Thorpe a huge asset
- close streets more frequently to make pedestrians feel more welcome