Davidson, NC: An Extreme Walkable Community

Eric Fredericks • Sunday September 4, 2005

Davidson, North Carolina has tagged itself as a walkable community. Following the recent increase in gas prices, perhaps there is no community doing more to live up to this tagging. According to a Lincoln Tribune article, it seems that all government employees are walking, biking, or using public transit to get to work. “I have instructed department heads to implement practices to conserve fuel,” said Leamon Brice, town manager.

I really think this is amazing, and you must read this article. I had no idea that the rising gas prices would start to affect decision making this quickly. I figured that it would take much higher gas prices to really start changing mindsets. But, I guess everyone is starting to see that there really is no end in sight to the increasing prices. I hope more places follow Davidson’s lead. If every town in North America started doing this, can you imagine the positive results? Of course, not every town has the advantage of its residents being able to walk and bike everywhere.