Cities should encourgage walking

Everyone knows that exercise is good for you, and government and media reminds us constantly to get some exercise and walk or bike instead of drive whenever possible. However, most local government entities do not think about funding/sustaining their walking paths, bike trails, etc. Here in Pueblo, CO there are lots of receptacles for dog waste with a dispenser for plastic gloves for pet owners to pick up their pet's excrements. Every one I see has an empty plastic glove container, it seems as if they were filled just once, then never again.

Another Pueblo example, is the pedestrian walkway between the Jerry Murphy Road area where many thousands live; and Dillon Drive where all the big stores such as Walmart are. If you live on Jerry Murphy road, you must (by car) take the freeway or drive miles out of your way, even though (e.g.,) Walmart is just 1/2 a mile from you. Pueblo's city planners installed a pedestrian walkway so people could walk 1/2 a mile to the store if they wanted, or the Pueblo Mall, or Goodwill, Target, etc. It goes under the freeway so bike riders and walkers can avoid smog, traffic lights, or walking along the freeway.

There are several problems with the Pueblo walkway:

1) It has never been maintained except to place giant cement blocks to try to prevent people from using it during a severe winter storm, and the city never removed them. People walk around the barriers in the dirt to get by them. (There are no signs saying the walkway is closed, and the barrier come after you walk 1/4 of a mile.)

2) There are tree branches, litter, and garbage on the walkways.

3) Most of the walkways are just dirt, and some is cement. After rain or snow, the dirt turns to mud, so your shoes get covered with mud.

4) Lots of abandoned property, garbage, and homeless shelter tents are there, although I never had a problem with the homeless people, all were friendly and did not hit me up for money.

5) Some city signs are wrong! For example, one sign points to the Pueblo Mall, but it is pointing the wrong way!

6) The walkways are not covered, lit, or wind-protected, so they are very hard to use in bad weather or at night. I walk to Planet Fitness every night, and must bring my own flashlight.

If the city of Pueblo fixed these problems, a lot of people would walk instead of drive.
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Mark Shapiro, judgment expert, judgment broker, judgment writer, and a smile chaser.  Visit: http://www.JudgmentBuy.com