I had coffee with a friend yesterday morning — a friend who, like me, lives in downtown Pagosa Springs, and who dislikes driving his car and much prefers walking. We discussed the Town government’s ongoing efforts to create a pedestrian-friendly, bicycle-friendly environment within the downtown. From what I can tell, those government efforts have had mixed success thus far.
We also talked about parking, and about housing density, and we agreed that all three issues — housing, parking, and walkable neighborhoods — are mutually dependent, to some degree.
As my friend noted, there are several things that need to be in place, before the average person will hang their car keys on the hook and set out walking. At least the following must be present:
- The route needs to be safe for pedestrians.
- There must be worthwhile destinations within walking distance.
- The person in question must be psychologically inclined to choose walking over driving.
There are a couple of ways to help make a neighborhood safe for pedestrians. Obviously, the main danger in most situations is vehicle traffic. In 2017, about 6,000 American pedestrians were killed by vehicles, along with about 800 bicycle riders. (That compares with about 14,500 gun-related homicides that same year.) An ideal community would have multiple routes to important destinations — some used by cars, and some used by pedestrians and perhaps bicycles. But we don’t have that here in Pagosa Springs. Yet.
Sidewalks would be nice, but we don’t have those everywhere in downtown. Yet.
Some communities are experimenting with closing certain streets to vehicle traffic. We do that with Hermosa Street, for example, when the July 4th carnival sets up in Town Park… and with Lewis Street during the Car Show. Could some closures become permanent? Would that encourage foot traffic?
But safety is only one issue. We also need worthwhile destinations within walking distance.
The Seattle-based website WalkScore.com tells me that the area surrounding my home at 446 Loma Street is “Somewhat Walkable”. They’ve assigned my house a score of “50” out of a possible 100 points. My location ranks “33” for bicycle access.
This is, of course, a computer’s opinion about my place of residence. No human connected with WalkScore.com has ever started out at my front door and strolled the neighborhood to find out what services and entertainments I can conveniently access on foot. But thanks to Google and various other GIS-enabled websites (likewise highly dependent upon computerized data crunching) the WalkScore computers are able to “know” a great deal about my neighborhood without once setting foot outside their climate-controlled data centers in Seattle. (Okay, the computers don’t have feet. But you know what I mean.)
The computers know, for example, that within a 15 minute walk, I have access to:
- A middle school
- A movie theatre
- 13 restaurants
- Two coffee shops
- Several retailers selling mostly tourist souvenirs
- Two churches
- Three smaller municipal parks, and one enormous park
- Three geothermal bathing establishments
- A grocery store
- A public library
- A mostly abandoned County Courthouse
What the computers do not know is that, 130 years after being officially incorporated, the Town of Pagosa Springs has not yet managed to install sidewalks in my neighborhood… so I access these various downtown locations by walking in the roadway. Thankfully, the neighborhood streets aren’t too busy, so it’s relatively safe to walk in the street. If you’re paying attention.
WalkScore is also a bit behind the times. Of the 15 restaurants they listed within a mile of my house, four are already out of business or have new names. And I can’t see how a computer in Seattle would be able to judge the third requirement for a walkable neighborhood; namely, my psychological willingness to use my feet, which depends to some degree upon how many other people in my neighborhood are setting a healthy, environmentally-conscious example.
Obviously, the Walk Score is not a perfect system. But considering you can enter practically any street address in Archuleta County and get some type of ‘walk score’, it’s pretty impressive. (Spoiler alert: a lot of you folks will have a score of “0”.)
I’m not sure, however, why the WalkScore computers rated my house only “50” out of 100 possible points. Considering the rural nature of our community, their computers ought to be absolutely amazed at the number of businesses and entertainment venues I can easily access on foot from my house. I suspect a real person would have given me at least a “75”.
Josh Herst, the CEO of WalkScore, dreams that someday everyone will refer to the Walk Score when shopping for real estate. Perhaps this will be particularly true of younger adults — Generation X and the Millennial Generation — who tend to be more conscious than us older folks of such things as carbon footprints and the health benefits of bicycling and walking. (Perhaps the younger generation also puts more trust in computer accuracy?)
As I mentioned yesterday, our historical downtown was envisioned and platted in 1883, before the coming of the automobile, and that’s one reason why the downtown has even a chance of becoming pedestrian-friendly someday. But downtown is home to — what? 10 percent of the total community population? 5 percent? Most of the folks who’ve built or bought a home in Archuleta County since 1970 have chosen to live in the suburban Pagosa Lakes area, or out in the more rural areas.
Meanwhile, there’s an economic undertow working to keep downtown from becoming more pedestrian friendly for full-time residents. When I moved to Pagosa in 1993, nearly all of the retail businesses and restaurants were located in the downtown core area. We had an office supply store. A bookstore. A drug store. The main grocery store. A newspaper office. Several realtors. A soda fountain. Two art galleries. The post office. Two barbers. An appliance store. Town Hall. The County Courthouse. All within the downtown core.
Fast forward to 2020, and the downtown core has become dominated by tourist shops… (and at the east end of town, by marijuana shops?) Yes, there are some worthwhile destinations within walking distance of the Springs Resort and the Healing Waters — if you’re a tourist. But local downtown residents have fewer meaningful destinations in the central core, as the years go by.
Meanwhile, the east end of downtown — once a residential neighborhood — has blossomed during that same time with new commerce, restaurants and shops. So maybe all is not lost? But I keep coming back to the fact that 90 percent of our community population lives several miles from the downtown core, and will be driving cars, and will want free, convenient parking.
If they even bother to make the trip downtown…
Let’s ask that question. What could attract a person from Pagosa Lakes to come downtown… and walk?