When a National Historic Site of Canada is in your region, you certainly want to find a way to elevate and connect to it. With this in mind, Kawarthas Northumberland (a region in Eastern Ontario) developed Canada’s first Trail Town program along the 386-kilometer Trent-Severn Waterway. Cycle Forward was involved from concept to launch. Dates: […]
Trail Towns and Communities
10 Months Living in Pittsburgh’s South Side
Ten months ago, three days before Christmas, my wife and I moved into our new (old) home in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood. Throughout our first year here, I’ve often thought about writing about our experience as new residents. Honestly, though, I haven’t known what I want to say. My history with the neighborhood goes back […]
Small town launches its own bike share
From idea to bikes on the street in six months! Bike share ridership has been on the rise over the last few years. For those who don’t know, this is when a community has a fleet of bikes that are available for short term rental. They’re typically positioned at unattended stations throughout a city and […]
Are Communities Performing the Grand Seduction?
I watched the movie The Grand Seduction recently and have been thinking about it in the context of community ever since. Somehow this little indie movie about a Newfoundland village that tries to lure a doctor to plant roots has permeated my thinking in consulting projects. The premise of the movie is that the village […]
Cycle Forward’s “Month of Canada”
I’ve spent much of this week trying to unpack (in both the literal and figurative senses) two fantastic professional experiences, both involving interacting with trail and tourism professionals of Atlantic Canada. The experiences: In April, spending a week in Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where I took a fantastic four day […]
Mon Valley Road Tripping
Enjoying the quirk, charm and stunning views along the Monongahela River I’ve been planning the Come Down to the River and Play event weekend on behalf of the River Town Program and National Road Heritage Corridor. Special thanks to longtime River Town Program coordinator / cajoler / champion Cathy McCollom for involving me in this […]
The joy of winter events that drive business
My career in marketing places started in Pittsburgh’s South Side. I helped to put on a historic house tour and a neighborhood festival-gone-wild. Talk about two different events! Despite its early success in drawing attention to the South Side, the festival blew up to the point that the net benefit was no longer evident. Residents […]
Atlantic Canada Best Practices Mission
“It’s all about the content, not the container.” Wow! What a week. I spent last week hosting a group of trail tourism advocates from Atlantic Canada, sharing best practices along four Mid-Atlantic trails: the Appalachian Trail, C&O Canal Towpath, Virginia Creeper Trail, and the Great Allegheny Passage. The group members hailed from New Brunswick, Newfoundland, […]
How to Build (a Bike) Community
There’s a now-famous “How to Build Community” poster created by the Syracuse Cultural Workers in 1998. The comprehensive “how-to” begins with “Turn off your TV” and ends with working to make heard the voices of the silent. The poster is at once simple, cute, and inspiring, and has resonated with those who rally for our […]
