I want to thank all of the organizations who hosted the mayor of Columbia, Mo., Darwin Hindman, during his visit to Columbia, Md. It is reassuring to know that a community with vision and perseverance can provide a healthful, ecologically mindful environment.

Darwin Hindman is a bicycle advocate who, at age 76, still bikes 60 miles a week. During his tenure as mayor he has changed his city from a place that largely ignored the bicycle into a place where already 6 percent of intra-city trips are by bicycle and still increasing. With America's obesity epidemic and gas prices, that surely will continue to grow. It is imperative that we achieve healthful, non-fossil fueled transportation.

Columbia, Mo., is a city of about 100,000 straddling Interstate 70. Columbia, Md., is a city of about 95,000 straddling Route 29. Columbia, Mo., has changed intersections to better accommodate bicycles, implemented bicycle boulevards and is pioneering other innovative strategies to promote bicycle use. Columbia, Md., has not.

Columbia, Mo., has four bicycle lanes crossing I-70 and is considering building another. Columbia, Md., has one pedestrian/bicycle bridge across Route 29, considered unsafe at night. Routes 108, 175 and 32 are unsafe for either pedestrians or bicycles at any time of day.

During his presentation at Columbia Association headquarters, Hindman noted that his town's downtown has two-story buildings, although ones up to five stories have been considered. How could Columbia, Mo., provide such a healthful environment to its residents with such limited density? Curious, I prowled through Columbia, Mo., using Google Maps. Sure enough, the tallest structure by far was the water tower.

For all of Howard County's wealth we have done remarkably little to promote this healthful means of transportation. It is obvious from Columbia, Mo., that more density is not required. We need county leaders with vision and perseverance to really move Howard County in healthful and ecological directions.

Russ Swatek

Long Reach

Russ Swatek represents his village on the Columbia Association's board of directors.

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user comments (2)

user commonsenseplease says...

Mr. Swatek. We're not brining density so we can bike to work. We're asking for density so we can build a city that can survive in central Maryland (not Missouri) for at least another generation. Biking is just an added bonus. It's time for you folks to get out of the way and let us save Columbia from the very people who have let it deteriorate to what it has already become.

Posted 9:01 PM, 11.14.09 | Permalink

user theotherkathy says...

I endorse Russ Swatek's efforts to make Columbia more bike friendly, e.g., Let's get curb cuts where bike paths - and street intersect. But to compare MD to MO on this subject is a logical fallacy. Midwestern University towns generally have bike lanes. Frank Lloyd Wright started the Prairie School of Architecture, building low houses in the Midwest, because there's lots of land and shorter trees. A better comparison might be to take a look to Montgomery Co's old vs new Smart Growth initiatives. In 20 years, do we want car choked streets because we chose Sprawl vs Density around metro stations and transportations hubs. Do we want car-centric communities or should we be getting on the bandwagon for "people movers," which may mean dropping our prejudices against density.

Posted 10:42 AM, 11.16.09 | Permalink