May 14, 2014
Creative Santa Fe and the Metropolitan Planning Organization invited national connection experts, Dan Burden and Robert Ping of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute to visit Santa Fe. The duo provided two days of targeted presentations and site analysis to the City of Santa Fe and key stakeholders. These discussions explored investment policies, programs, and infrastructure to improve Santa Fe’s public health, economy, and community’s general well-being through increased walkability and bikeability.
Dan Burden spent more than 35 years helping the world get “back on its feet”. Dan has personally helped 3,500 communities throughout the world become more livable and walkable. Most recently, Dan was the recipient of the Whitehouse honor “Champions for Change”. Dan’s efforts have also earned him the first-ever lifetime-achievement awards issued by the New Partners for Smart Growth and the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals. In 2001, Dan was named by TIME magazine as “one of the six most important civic innovators in the world.” Also that year, the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences honored Dan by making him their Distinguished Lecturer. In 2009, a user’s poll by Planetizen named Dan as one of the Top 100 Urban Thinkers of all time.
Robert Ping, a self-described ‘bikeaholic’ and a passionate transportation advocate, has become well known throughout the country for his work in Safe Routes to School program and policy change. Robert focuses on helping communities and advocates to improve the built environment and increase safety, social equity, and physical activity through bicycling and walking.
Dan and Robert continue to consult the City of Santa Fe and the Metropolitan Planning Organization on making Santa Fe a more walkable, bikeable, and and pedestrian-friendly city.