Walking is part of most days, but how often do most people think about how convenient it is to walk in their community?

Studies show that a walkable environment can result in better health, cleaner air, better social interaction, and stronger businesses for the areas that take it seriously.

St. Ignace residents will have the opportunity to assess the walkability of their town and discuss possibilities for improvement when Dan Burden, a walkability expert from the nonprofit group Walkable Communities, visits St. Ignace for a workshop focusing on where shoe leather meets sidewalks Wednesday, October 7. It is open to the public.

The former State Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for Florida's Department of Transportation, Mr. Burden has also worked as a bicycle and walking consultant in North America, Australia, New Zealand, China, and Europe.

In 2001, Mr. Burden was named by TIME Magazine as "one of the six most important civic innovators in the world," and has more than 30 years of experience helping more than 2,500 communities become more livable and walkable. He has also been featured by the Associated Press, NBC's Dateline, The Discovery Channel, and ABC News with Peter Jennings.

Mr. Burden has been hired to complete the walking audit by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians' Community Health Services as a part of a grant it received. The tribe received the five-year, $1.76 million Strategic Alliance for Health Project grant in the fall of 2008, and has used the funding to concentrate on preventing disease in three key areas: cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes.

The walking audit of St. Ignace will begin at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at American Legion Park, when Mr. Burden said he plans to talk with community members and walk the town to help determine the strengths, weaknesses, and specific needs in St. Ignace when it comes to walking.

"We are now learning that everything depends on if a town is walkable or not," he said. "Some of the towns that are most walkable are where new business is moving in."

After spending 3.5 hours pounding the pavement, Mr. Burden and other community members are invited to the St. Ignace Public Library for lunch at 1 p.m., followed by a presentation and question and answer session at 2:30 p.m.

"I give a presentation on tools that are customized to work in this particular community," Mr. Burden said. "We show the right tools for whatever the scale, whatever the climate."

Working with a 12-step checklist, he will look for key elements, including healthy town centers, easily accessible public spaces, welllinked streets and trails, reasons why people are or aren't walking, an overall design geared toward people, and a vision for the future.

Recommendations will be given on sidewalk width and condition, street crossings, connectivity to parking, the presence of on-street and off-street parking, tree canopies, housing type and mix, and other factors that affect walkability.

Mr. Burden said the major problem he sees when doing these audits is that many communities were originally designed for street traffic but not for foot traffic.

"We tend to design towns for automobiles more than for ourselves," he said. "Now we are redesigning our towns to work better for people."

Benefits gained from a more walkable community begin with environmental sustainability and better health, Mr. Burden said, and extend to making a more attractive place for people to live and work.

"People will bring jobs to a small, beautiful community," he said. "That is very dependent on livability and walkability."

A study done by a group of business executives, CEOs for Cities, suggests that higher rated walkability ratings in downtown neighborhoods can increase home values from $4,000 to $34,000 depending on the metropolitan area.

The Journal of the American Planning Association released a survey in 2006 that found residents in pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods in Washington weighed an average of seven pounds less than someone in a sprawling, non-walkable neighborhood.

Three other workshops are planned in the Upper Peninsula, paid for by the Sault tribe's grant, one in Manistique October 5, Munising October 6, and Sault Ste. Marie October 8.

After doing work in Sault Ste. Marie as a part of Michigan's Cool Cities initiative, Mr. Burden said he made connections that have helped bring him back to the Eastern Upper Peninsula to do this year's surveys.

"We are being employed more than anything by health communities now," he said. "Changing the environment is one of the most important things, health-wise."

Donna Norkoli, a representative for Sault Tribe Community Health, said the audit is one step in attempting to make it easier and more enjoyable for people in the community to be active and make healthier choices.

"The goal is to reduce the incidence of disease," Mrs. Norkoli said, "and increase physical activity and healthy eating."

One very important part of Wednesday's workshop, she said, is getting the right people there to hear his presentation.

"We need people that make decisions in the community," she said.

Mr. Burden said to get the most out of Wednesday's audit, community leaders and residents should participate, voice their opinions, and ask good questions.

"The elected leaders have to have a public behind them for it to work," he said. "If they don't have a strong public voice supporting them, then the easy things we've always done will continue to be done. People need to be an active part in the process."

Mr. Burden loves the Upper Peninsula, Mrs. Norkoli said, and those who attend the workshop can look forward to hearing from a very knowledgeable and dynamic speaker.

"He is so passionate about this movement and so committed to it," she said.

To participate in the walking tour, meet at American Legion Park at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.