Active Towns

In this episode, I connect with Briana Cohen, who serves as the Ghisallo Cycling Initiative's Austin Lead and Community Educator. We discuss the many engaging activation programs and services this beloved non-profit is providing within the Austin and San Antonio communities and she provides a wonderful glimpse into the organization and how it helps to support the communities they serve well beyond issues related to riding cycles.

She also serves on the Bicycle Advisory Council for the City of Austin.

The Ghisallo Cycling Initiative based in Austin, Texas provides education, engagement, and activation programs and services which help to get more people, of all ages and abilities, riding more often.

Additional Helpful Links:

Landing page for this Episode on the Active Towns website - for more photos and videos
 
City Cyclist programs

Golden Rollers

Cycle Academy

Wheelie Good Snack Packs

Community Collaborations mentioned: Woven in Among Us Rides and Legends Mosaic Portraits

2020 Annual Report with full overview, photos, videos

Ghisallo Bike to Eat Week

Ghisallo Film Festival

Ghisallo Vimeo Video Channel

Austin's Smart Trips TDM Program

City of Austin’s Active Transportation & Street Design Division

City of Austin Urban Trails Division

Bogota's Cyclovia

Texas Coffee Traders

Something Cool Studios and the Mosaic Bike Tour

Reconnect Austin

Black Women Who Kayak Plus - Ghisallo Ride

Decipher City - Stephanie Webb - Black Architects self-guided tour coming soon

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I welcome Austin's District 8 City Council Member, Paige Ellis, onto the Podcast.  We talk about her biggest learnings from a 2019 PeopleForBikes study tour to The Netherlands, some recent infrastructure improvements in the city, a game-changing mobility bond she co-sponsored which passed overwhelmingly in the November election, as well as the Interstate 35 expansion challenge.
 
Council Member Ellis is a fabulous example of a passionate, caring city leader who looks for opportunities to learn from the experiences of other cities, exhibits courage in taking big bold actions for the collective good, and embraces the use of small incremental infrastructure tests, tactical urbanism if you will, to move with a sense of urgency while evaluating the benefits and feasibility of more permanent investments.

Austin, Texas is making huge strides in becoming a more walkable and bike-able city for "All Ages & Abilities" and the community's willingness to fund critical improvements bodes well for future generations.

Additional Helpful Links:

Active Towns Landing Page for this Episode - for access to fun videos and photos

Austin's Active Mobility & Safety Bond (2020 Prop B)

Austin Strategic Mobility Plan

Austin's Project Connect - Transit Plan

Healthy Streets - Austin

Austin Active Transportation & Street Design Division

Bikeshare - MetroBike

Active Towns Podcast w/ Roland Kager Bike Transit Integration

PeopleForBikes

Austin NL Study Tour video

Active Towns Podcast Episodes about Study Tours w/ Zach Vanderkooy and Meredith Glaser

Healthy Streets shortie

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I connect with Laura Steel and Michael Kelley with BikeWalkKC about how the city is making progress in active mobility education, policy advancement, and, yes, even in infrastructure, finally starting to emerge on the ground. 

Additional Helpful Links:

This Episode's Landing Page - for more photos and videos

The BikeWalkKC YouTube Channel

BikeWalkKC - Become a Member

BikeWalkKC - Newsletter & Mailing List

Decriminalizing Walking Biking

BikeWalkKC Policy Platform

Kansas City Physical Activity Plan

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I reconnect with Jennifer Ruley, the Mobility & Safety Lead Engineer for the City of New Orleans (Moving New Orleans), and Dan Favre, the Executive Director of Bike Easy, for a chat about the NOLA active mobility story, which is most definitely one of perseverance, collaboration, and commitment to transformation.

Additional Helpful Links:

Active Towns Landing Page for this episode - for fun photos and additional content.

Moving NOLA Facebook Page

Moving NOLA Instagram

NOLA Complete Streets Coalition

Toole Design blog post about the Big Jump Project in NOLA

Walk Bike Places NOLA Conference

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I connect with Zach Vanderkooy, a veteran study tour organizer and principal of the firm Inspired by Cities for a discussion about the impact of study tours, what you can expect as an attendee, and what it takes to pull off successful educational outings such as these.

Zach is an urban planner by training and has a deep history in bicycle advocacy, having worked for both IMBA - the International Mountain Bicycling Association, and PeopleForBikes. 

Additional Helpful Links:

Organizing Effective Study Tours pdf

Green Lane Project article

Big Jump Project article and Big Jump Better Together Video short

An Active Towns - PeopleForBikes Study Tour Video - Zach helped to organize this study tour w/ PeopleForBikes

Active Towns Podcast Episode featuring Meredith Glaser and Meredith's research article on study tours

Active Towns Podcast Episode featuring Roshun Austin

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I connect with Ken McLeod, Policy Director at the League of American Bicyclists, for an in-depth discussion about the current federal, state, and local active mobility policy landscape in the United States.

The League of American Bicyclists, based in Washington, DC, is a membership-based organization that has been fighting for the rights and needs of cyclists, specifically and active mobility in general, since 1880.

As Policy Director, Ken McLeod is at the forefront of these policy discussions as well as monitoring the critical updates to the various design guide manuals that influence what actually can be built.

Additional Helpful Links:

Bike Law University

Transportation Alternatives Act and the League's Summary

Complete Streets Act

SAFE Streets Act

EBIKE Act

Bicycle Commuter ACT 2021

Stop As Yield Laws - "The Idaho-Stop"

Bicycle Friendly States Program

East Coast Greenway - Their bold greenway stimulus ask

NIMBY definition

CROW Manual

MUTCD - Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices 

NACTO and NACTO's MUTCD work

APBP

ITE

The Challenge of Actually Changing the MUTCD

The Transportation Equity Caucus

Dangerous by Design 2021 Report

Victim Blaming PSA

Mike McGinn's Active Towns Podcast Episode

America Walks

Jeff Miller the DC Cycling Concierge

The Clairmont Colleges

Georgia Bikes

San Francisco Bike Lane Lawsuit

The High Cost of Free Parking - Donald Shoup

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I connect with Mark Cramer, who is an American living in a northern suburb of Paris, France, for a discussion about how many years ago he happened upon a fun group of cyclists completely taking over the streets of Paris, with the support and assistance of the police, and how this chance connection led him down the road of becoming a regular bike commuter, traveling throughout the Paris region.

Mark is also the author of the book Old Man on a Green Bike: Chronicles of a Self-Serving Environmentalist and they talk about how to encourage more people of all ages to ride more often.

Now that he's retired, he has taken up exploring the countryside on his beloved green bike and reflecting on how profound an impact riding has had on his life, health, and well-being.

If you'd like to learn more, be sure to pick up a copy of his book: Old Man on a Green Bike: Chronicles of a Self-Serving Environmentalist

Additional Helpful Links:

The Active Towns Landing Page for this episode - For more photos and links

An article about Mark and his book in Cycling Industry News

Mark's interview on the Bike Talk Podcast

The cycling group that Mark mentions: Mieux se Déplacer à Bicyclette

Bike touring near Paris and using trains - an annual pilgrimage Mark makes, to pay tribute to Van Gogh

Active Towns Podcast Episode featuring Alissa Walker

Active Towns Podcast Episode featuring Chuck Marohn, Founder & President of Strong Towns

STROAD definition

Jaywalking Defined - Peter Norton on Active Towns Podcast

John's Active Towns Paris Profile Video

Ryan Van Duzer's Active Towns Episodes #1 and #2 the Video

Ivan Illich, Energy and Equity

John DeGraaf - books why working less is better

Valencia Paseo System

MAMIL - Middle Aged Man in Lycra

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I reconnect with Nicholas "Nick" Oyler, Manager, Memphis Bikeway & Pedestrian Program for a discussion about the exciting recent advances in the high-comfort cycle network and some of the challenges still facing the city.

Nick also provides a bit of background as to how he got interested in this work. We cover a lot of ground in this interview and barely scratch the surface of the very encouraging developments currently underway in this fine city. 

The city of Memphis, Tennessee, is most certainly not on the top of our minds for most of us when it comes to a safe and inviting environment for walking and biking, but it has been on our radar here at Active Towns as being one of the early adopters of innovative unsanctioned tactical urbanism installations which have helped pave the way to massive improvements on the ground and building momentum in establishing a "Culture of Activity."

Additional Helpful Links:

The Active Towns Landing Page for this episode

PeopleForBikes and the Memphis Big Jump Project our Big Jump Project video

Münster, Germany

South Memphis Glide Ride facilitated by The Works

Tactical Urbanism (the book) and (the guide) and our interview with Mike Lydon on the subject

Better Block

Broad Ave article in Strong Towns

Hampline landing page

Memphis Medical District and  MLK Project

Shelby Farms Greenline

Bicycle Boulevards defined our Podcast episode on the subject

Explore Bike Share

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this special bonus episode, an Activity Ambassador profile, I connect with Rob Verhelst from Madison, Wisconsin, who is also known as Fireman Rob.

We talk through a wide range of topics, including how the Ironman triathlon helped him to find his passion, his take on safer streets for active living as a working emergency services professional, the role activity played in helping him deal with PTSD in the aftermath of 9-11 and so much more.

Additional Helpful Links:

Landing page for this episode on the Active Towns website - for access to photos, videos, and other cool stuff.

Rob's website the Forged in the Fires book

The Fireman Rob Foundation to make a #BearaSMILE donation - Hint: when you get to the donation screen, be sure to scroll down to the Fireman Rob Foundation in the selection list.

The Blazeman Foundation - The War on ALS

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I connect with the newly appointed Executive Director of BikeWalk Provo, Austin Taylor, for a discussion about the current status of walking and biking in Provo as well as the progress the city has made and how the community is rallying to address their street safety challenges and concerns.

Austin Taylor is one very busy guy. He works as a Transportation Planner focussing on Active Transportation and Transportation Demand Management, also known as TDM, for the Park City Municipal Corporate in Park City, Utah, and he’s the recently appointed volunteer Executive  Director of the non-profit BikeWalk Provo. In addition, he also serves as a board member for the Utah Chapter of CNU - The Congress for the New Urbanism.

Additional Helpful Links:

The Active Towns Landing page for this Episode - for more photos and other fun stuff

The Bike Collective

The Bike League - Bicycle Friendly America Program (BFA)

Article in The Herald about Silver Status in the BFA Program

Urban Arrow Family Cargo-bikes

Motherload - the movie

The Urban Grid of SLC - "the most striking thing about Salt Lake’s grid is the scale. Blocks are 660 feet on each side. That means walking the length of two football fields from one intersection to the next. By comparison, nine Portland, Oregon city blocks can fit inside one Salt Lake block."

Park City Bike Share System

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.