Connecting to Meaningful Destinations w/ Jeffrey Bagg

In this episode, I connect with Jeff Bagg, the City Planner for Easthampton, MA, for a discussion about how this historic mill town is striving to connect people to meaningful destinations by leveraging its beloved Manhan Rail Trail while expanding its connectivity and reach through new infrastructure, creative installations, and traffic calming measures.Episode Landing page for access to more information and photosEasthampton, Massachusetts and Jeffrey Bagg, City Planner were suggested for the Podcast by one our listeners. The following is a brief description that was provided as part of this suggestion:"Easthampton's a small Western Mass city that's more aptly a dense village. They're trailblazing out there doing amazing work that other small-scale communities should try and replicate; investing in a fantastic rail trail, a pedestrian boardwalk, traffic calming roundabouts, raised crosswalks, and new trailheads. It's also surrounded by jaw-dropping natural beauty."In the conversation, Jeff also discusses some of the challenges and opportunities the city is facing as they move to relocate an elementary school, leverage connectivity through the existing popular Manhan Rail Trail, and work to slow motor vehicles speeds in the vital downtown areas where people are likely to be walking, cycling, and lingering.Additional Helpful Links:Easthampton Planning DepartmentMt Tom North Trailhead ParkEasthampton Planning Dept Facebook PageEasthampton Planning Dept InstagramMassDOT Shared StreetsMill Pond LiveTactical UrbanismFour Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my storeCredits:All video and audio production by John SimmermanMusic:Various mixes also by John SimmermanResources used during the production of this episode:- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm- Adobe Creative Cloud SuiteFor more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:- Website- Twitter- Newsletter- Podcast landing pages- Facebook- InstagramBackground:Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★