Talking the walk: Is a more ‘walkable’ Butte the key for city’s future?

The trick is fostering neighborhoods that provide residents’ needs within a half-mile walk: groceries, retail, work places and exercise opportu-nities. The more "walkable" a city, the more it can attract those coveted young professionals with families.

It might be the first time someone has praised Butte for stagnate growth in the past 50 years, but Jeff Speck is known for offering unconventional advice.

A former director of design for the National Endowment for the Arts, Speck is an expert in urban planning — how cities maximize their space to grow business and improve quality of life. Butte-Silver Bow asked him to take a look at the city, and he gave his impressions in a 2½-hour talk Wednesday morning inside a packed conference room in the Thornton Building.

By KELLEY CHRISTENSEN/The Montana Standard

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