March 10, 2014
by David Ryan
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More Stairway Wandering in Bisbee

Last week my dog Petey and I returned to Bisbee, Arizona to get more information for a possible guidebook to the Bisbee stairs. To learn more about Bisbee and its stairs please read the previous blog post, “Stair Wandering in Bisbee”.

And it’s a good thing that we did go back. We found some great hiking trails to include the guide and some stairways that we missed on the first time around. One of those stairways had 170 steps. It would be humiliating to put out a guide and miss a 170 step stairway.

But when a stairway begins between two old garages facing a Circle K parking lot, it’s not easy to find.

When I first noticed these stairs, I thought that they only lead to the house behind the garage.

When I first noticed these stairs, I thought that they only led to the house behind the garage.

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February 17, 2014
by David Ryan
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Stair Wandering in Bisbee

A little over a week ago my dog Petey and I spent a few days climbing stairs in Bisbee, Arizona. We took many notes and made an inventory of the stairs for a possible guide to the Bisbee stairs.

A stair guide should be a natural for Bisbee, because if you like to climb stairs and to explore a funky town at the same time, Bisbee is the place to go. As you walk around, I think you’ll find Bisbee to be one of the most interesting and, perhaps, the funkiest small town in the country.

This car only scratches the surface on Bisbee's funkiness.

This car only scratches the surface on Bisbee’s funkiness.

You can see an example of Bisbee's stairs in the background.

You can see an example of Bisbee’s stairs in the background.

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February 2, 2014
by David Ryan
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City Walks

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to walk in and around downtown Albuquerque with Stephen Ausherman, the author of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Albuquerque. He is currently working on a new book that will feature hikes within the city limits of Albuquerque.

The timing of the walk with Stephen was perfect as I was thinking about taking a walk around my own city of Albuquerque after reading the just published Finding Los Angeles by Foot: Stairstreet, Bridge, Pathway and Lane by Bob Inman. Bob is one of the foremost experts on stairways in Los Angeles and often leads urban walks in Los Angeles. I have had the privilege to walk with him and have written about those walks in this blog. If you are a wanderer in Los Angeles, you should have his book.

The Los Angeles book and the upcoming Albuquerque book may represent the future of hiking. With the cost and time required to drive out of town, many people may find it more practical to walk closer to home. And in the right setting, a walk in a town or a city can be just as wonderful as a hike in the wilderness. I believe that the mix of posts in this blog attests to this.

Ironically, the qualities of a good walk in a town are the same qualities that Jane Jacobs identified in her 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, on what makes a livable city. In her book, it starts with the sidewalk. This is where people go about on foot to conduct their business and to run errands. Where you find an active sidewalk, you’ll find a safe sidewalk and vibrant community.

After years of living in communities that catered to the needs of drivers by providing wider streets with more lanes and higher speed limits, many people are now demanding walkability where they live. They are turning to the principles that Jane Jacobs identified over fifty years ago. In many places a walkable neighborhood is now way more desirable than a non-walkable neighborhood. A house’s “walk score” has become a major factor when buying or selling real estate. (To find out your walk score, you can visit walkscore.com.)

Today over 100 communities around the world conduct a “Jane’s Walk” every May. The Jane’s Walk website clearly states, “Jane’s Walk celebrate the ideas and legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs by getting people out exploring their neighborhoods through walking tours led by locals”. Also in many communities across the country neighborhood groups, such as “SW Trails – PDX” in Portland, have developed trails and walkways to provide safe routes to school and short-cuts to make their area more walkable.

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