The business reasons for supporting bike/ped: Columbia & Springfield

PedNet in Columbia has worked to forge a dialog with civic and business leaders in the area about the importance of bicycle and pedestrian facilities for creating a positive business environment.

Bike to work week event

“I didn’t realize it until today. It was the design of my neighborhood,” said Karen Miller, Boone County Southern District Commissioner, of why she once lived an inactive lifestyle. “It had affected my health. It’s a total mind shift. I was originally against the trail. Now that I am in a new neighborhood, I find myself talking with neighbors and using the trail because I have access to it.”

Several key leaders spoke on a radio show, summarized by Tribune publisher Henry J. Waters:

Monday morning on KFRU, I heard the incomparable David Lile interview the incomparable Don Stamper and the incomparable Karl Kruse. The occasion was a coming-out of sorts for a newly engaged couple. The economic development gang was making nice with the bike-and-trail crowd.

Lile and his guests were reporting a recent party where the bulldozer and bike crowds met face to face. A group of business heavies took overt note of the economic development benefits of PedNet activities. No doubt business had in mind the recent comments of IBM officials who said parks and trails were a significant factor in their decision to choose Columbia for their new technical center.

This local thaw is too long in the making. After Columbia became one of four communities in the nation to receive $25 million grants to develop alternative means of non-motorized transportation, the motorized crowd went into a noticeable sulk.  . . 

That Stamper & Co. are now walking down the aisle with Kruse Inc. is nothing to sneeze at. Their previous standoff was not good for the community or for either party. That they now are on speaking terms will make planning for the future more profitable.

The results are similar to those recently reported in Springfield--trails and bike lanes are key to attracting a high quality work force.

As Columbia Mayor Bob McDavid said, the first thing a company is going to look at is "if it can make money."  If the company can't make it economically, they won't even consider locating in a particular community.

But once that initial cut is made, any business looking to locate in a Missouri community will have several viable choices--and that is where they are likely to start looking at where their employees are going to be happier and healthier.  

So many communities and states in the U.S. have absolutely outstanding outdoor recreation opportunities, and the ability to work healthy walking and bicycling into the daily routine.  Missouri communities rank among the best in the nation--and communities like Columbia and Springfield are working to get there.