What’s our carbon footprint in your City?

I gave the following public comment at a recent Troy City Council meeting.  I was speaking in favor of their Troy Trails initiative.  Given the city’s past success in attracting business, I thought the following insight might spur further support for making Troy more bikeable and walkable:

Yesterday I got back from a Smart Growth conference in Albuquerque

There I learned that progressive entrepreneurs and businesses – companies like Google – are starting to ask the question:

If we locate our operations in your city, what will be our carbon footprint?

Can our employees bike, walk or take transit to work?

Or do they need to drive?

Can they bike or walk to the grocery store, the parks, cafes or the local micro brew?

Can their kids walk or bike safely to school?

Or do they need to be driven?

Today, honestly,having a low carbon footprint in Troy is challenging. Troy is not yet competitive with the Ann Arbors, the Portlands, or the Chicagos of the world.

And while making Troy more bikeable and walkable is not a single solution, it is a major first step towards becoming more competitive in bringing future progressive employers to Troy.

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