by Maureen | Aug 22, 2011 | Biking, Burien, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Introspection, Journal, Photos, Quips, Seattle
Ignite an early enthusiasm for being on two wheels. Teach “bike sense” and street smarts to little ones. Gather people from the community for fun, conversation, fresh air and healthful exercise. These are the goals of Burien’s Bike “SaFaRis” – Safe Family Rides, launched by the enthusiastic, former Burien City Councilmember, Sue Blazak.
The first SaFaRi was yesterday, Sunday, August 21. One little one, still a babe-in-arms, rode in a bike trailer behind his Dad, while another little guy was in a bike seat behind his Dad. Other kids rode on “trailer bikes” connected to a parent’s bike, or they rode competently on their own knee-high cycles. In all, 19 people gathered at Gregory Heights School for a bicycle tour through the Seahurst neighborhood and around Lake Burien, including a swingset-break at Lake Burien Park. The whole ride lasted about an hour and was generally flat except for a few small hills near the lake.
You see new things on a bike! Along the route, we all noticed things that we just hadn’t seen through our car windshields, and we traveled on streets we’ve never traveled in all the time we’ve each lived here. Conversations were spontaneous and varied as the group mixed along the way. New connections were made.
The group will meet Sundays at 3 p.m. through Sept. 25th. This is a FREE event, and all are welcome (either with kids or without). The group will make variations on a loop around Lake Burien each week, between 2-5 miles. Participants will meet in front of Gregory Heights Elementary, on the 16th Ave SW side, at 16201 16th Ave SW in Burien. ALL participants must wear bicycle helmets (parents included), and riders are taught to follow safe cycling practices and the rules-of-the-road.
An e-mail list was started for staying in touch with interested riders, and notifying people of route changes. For more information, please contact: design (at) RedRedCircle (dot) com. (Write it all out as a standard e-mail address.)
by Maureen | Aug 8, 2011 | Burien, Burien's Walk-n-Talk, Community, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Journal, People, Quips, Seattle
People came in ones, twos and threes and gathered on the grassy knoll in the center of Burien’s Town Square. Mothers and daughters. Couples. Clusters of friends. A man and his dog.
And people traveled from other towns just to join the walk. Amanda and Anne both came from Kent. Sharon came from Renton. Cathy came from West Seattle. Tina and Glenn came from Auburn. Tami and her daughter had just moved here from Indiana… The rest were Burienites.
We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful, blue sky day in the high 70s. At 2:15, there were about 30 of us, and we were enthusiastic and ready to walk and talk.
For the most part, people paired up and walked with someone they didn’t know, and they chatted along the route. That was part of the whole idea: meet and talk to people you’ve never talked to before… get to know some neighbors.
We passed other walkers along the route and picked up three more people that joined our group! Many onlookers were curious about the big group walking past them so we told them what we were doing.
We stayed strung out in clusters of conversation as we headed down the hill toward Lake Burien.
When we arrived at the lone lookout to Lake Burien, some of us stopped to point out sights along the shoreline, and to nibble a few of the ripe blackberries.
As the group strolled back through the center of town, walkers variously peered into shop windows, stopped for sandwiches, or bought a few skeins at the yarn shop, continuing their talks along the way. Arriving back at Town Square an hour after we had begun, much of the group wrapped it up with a drink and a snack at Burien Press, the ideally-located coffee shop across the street.
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The next Walk-n-Talk is scheduled for Sunday, September 4th at 2:00. That’s Labor Day weekend, so if you’re not out of town and are looking for somthing to do, come walk! There’ve been suggestions of other routes, so we’ll see what we can cook up between now and then. Information will be posted here, on the B-Town Blog or through e-mail. If you’re interested, send me a note and I’ll add you to the list. Come Walk-n-Talk!
by Maureen | Aug 3, 2011 | Burien, Burien's Walk-n-Talk, Community, Featured Articles, Journal, Quips
Burien’s Walk-n-Talk is being launched this coming Sunday, August 7 at 2:00!
Put on your comfy shoes and come for a casual Walk-n-Talk with friends and neighbors. On the first Sunday of every month, meet up at Burien Town Square with friends, old and new. Enjoy conversations and a walk through town. Grab a local coffee or snack before or after your stroll.
On the day of the recent Olde Burien Block Party, I had dinner with friends Rochelle and Shelley and we talked about the idea of starting a walk-n-talk… So I ran with it! (…or walked with it.)
Intentions for Burien’s Walk-n-Talk:
- “Encourage active living to support physical and mental health.”
(Part of Burien’s new “Vision”.)
- Initiate conversation between friends and neighbors, new and old.
- Nurture the idea of our Town Square as the “living room” of Burien,
our center and gathering place.
- Create our own little “volksmarch“, in the European tradition.
- Support our local cafés and restaurants on Sunday afternoons.
Location: Burien Town Square
Who: Walkers of every level and ability
Date: First Sunday of every month
Time: Meet at 2:00 p.m. Start walking at 2:15 p.m.
Route: A 2.25 mile loop from Burien Town Square, around Lake Burien, and back to Town Square.
- Begin at Burien Town Square.
- Go west on SW 152nd Street.
- Turn south on 21st Ave. SW.
- Go east on SW 156th, 16th and 158th.
- Zig-zag north on 12th, 156th, 11th,
- 154th and 10th, and back to 152nd.
- Turn east on 152nd back to Town Square.
Click on the map below for a larger view:
Burien’s Walk-n-Talk was inspired by my time recently living in Italy for over a year. In Italy, people walk a lot, not just to get from place to place but also for the social connection. In addition to daily commuting and errands, Italians have their traditional “Passeggiata” – the evening stroll. In the evenings, the main streets fill with people making walking tours through town. Not only is it exercise, but it’s also the social hour. Families walk together. Old folks push other old folks in wheelchairs. Sisters and girlfriends go arm-in-arm. Elder men gather and solve the city’s problems.
Additionally, in Italy, every city and town has a central church, in front of which is a large central plaza – the piazza. This piazza is the “living room of the city”, it’s the central gathering place, the place to hang out with friends in the evening, and to meet up before going on to other destinations. The piazza is where the city both celebrates and mourns.
Burien’s Walk-n-Talk is a means to encourage OUR stroll, and to affirm Burien Town Square as our central gathering place, “the living room of OUR city”. The announcement has been picked up by our B-Town Blog and by KOMO News, so it’s possible that we’ll have 50-100 people walking!
