Sidewalks of Bennington County, VT
Sidewalks are an essential feature of roadways in villages, towns, and cities across the country and around the world. They promote the safe travel of pedestrians, help to reduce carbon emissions, and can even help to create a sense of community in some ways. With suburban sprawl running rampant today, and new neighborhoods popping up all over the place, it begs the question; where do we need to have sidewalks in place? Some obvious places are in town centers and outside of schools, but I would argue that it is equally important to promote the use of sidewalks in residential areas.
https://www.manchesterlifemagazine.com/2017/07/05/a-stroll-down-memory-lane/
Over the course of this summer, I have been tasked with a number of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) projects for my internship with the Bennington County Regional Commission. Of these projects, the one that stood out to me the most was taking an inventory of the sidewalks of Bennington County. Being a mostly rural county, sidewalks are scarce in most parts of this area, as they are not needed everywhere. They are most commonly found in historic village centers, town centers, outside of schools, and outside of churches. These areas make sense for sidewalks as they are often required to accommodate pedestrian traffic. However, I noticed that many residential areas in close proximity to the village centers of these Vermont towns are lacking sufficient sidewalk infrastructure.
This map depicts a village center in one of the more rural towns in Bennington County; Pownal. Despite being predominantly rural, Pownal has a sizable residential area, which is indicated by the blue lines, but almost no sidewalk infrastructure at all. The two minuscule strips of sidewalk depicted in the map are the only two sidewalks in all of Pownal, and they are both located outside of churches. As you can see there are no continuous sidewalks implemented throughout this residential area, only small ones to accommodate the pedestrian traffic outside of churches.
Depicted in this map is another one of the smaller, less populated village centers of Bennington County, West Rupert Village Center. This Village center is mostly made up of residential areas which also extend outside its boundary. The only sidewalk infrastructure within this village center is located outside of a church, and there is a small stretch of sidewalk just outside of the village center in front of two houses.
Shown in this map is Arlington Village center, a slightly larger and more populated village center when compared to that of Pownal. This map clearly depicts the lack of sidewalk infrastructure in residential neighborhoods. The sidewalks are seen almost exclusively within the village center boundary, only extending south towards the local high school, and mostly on main roads. The residential areas see almost no sidewalks at all.
Depicted in this map is North Bennington Village Center, a small village center surrounded by a few sprawling residential areas. This village center has a particularly extensive sidewalk infrastructure. Although some of the residential areas have sidewalks running through them, many residential areas, specifically those further away from the village center boundary, have little to no sidewalk infrastructure.
One of the more populated village centers of the county, South Shaftsbury Village Center is seen in this map. This village center consists largely of residential areas, and there are some residential areas in its immediate vicinity. There are some sidewalks that run directly through these residential areas, however they are for the most part only on main roads, and within the village center boundary. There is only one sidewalk outside of the village center boundary that runs through a residential area.
The area depicted in this map is one of the larger, more populated village centers in the county, Manchester Village Center. In this map it is clear that suburban sprawl has resulted in a few separate residential areas popping up in the immediate vicinity of the village center. Despite these neighborhoods being close to the village center and having sidewalks near their borders, there are no sidewalks running directly through any of the highlighted residential zones.
http://www.monumentvintage.com
The implementation of sidewalks in residential areas could potentially benefit these communities in a number of ways. First of all, and probably most importantly, it would help to reduce emissions from the use of cars. With sidewalks stretching into these neighborhoods, the residents would likely feel more comfortable with walking from place to place, whether it be to the town center, to a store, or to someone else's house. This decrease in vehicle traffic and emissions could ultimately help in the fight against climate change if the increased use of sidewalks is widespread.
Another massive benefit that the implementation of sidewalks could bring to these neighborhoods is increased pedestrian safety. By giving pedestrians a designated walkway that is separate from the road, they are obviously safer from vehicles that are traveling in said road. This safety not only promotes less use of cars as discussed earlier, but also allows people without cars to travel from place to place more safely. This mainly applies to children in these neighborhoods who may be walking or biking to a friend's house or possibly to school. The parents of these children may also feel more comfortable allowing them to walk or bike to school with proper sidewalk implementation, rather than giving them a ride, which could further help to reduce carbon emissions.
Lastly, implementation of sidewalks in these neighborhoods could even help to create a sense of a more tight knit community for the people living there. With sidewalks allowing people to walk around the area safely and more frequently, residents would likely see each other out more often and stop to talk to each other. Seeing a neighbor while you are both out for a walk encourages conversation almost infinitely more than passing each other in cars. With this increased conversation between members of these communities could result in these communities being much more tight knit, something that has been diminishing with suburbanization and sprawl.
These benefits do not only apply to Bennington County. Proper sidewalk implementation could bring benefits in terms of environmental concerns, safety, and sense of community to neighborhoods across the state, country, and world.
