By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Chuck Marohn, the founder and president of Strong Towns is in Hutchinson Tuesday for a follow-up presentation to one originally given in 2018.
"Since then, we've had a lot of different work and those concepts in action," said Amy Conkling with Hutch Rec. "He will be making a return visit to Hutchinson tonight at the Fox Theatre. He'll focus more on our transportation system with the Strong Towns concept. That's at 6 p.m. at the Fox Theatre and its free and open to the public."
There are many facets to transportation, but one is the active transportation with walking or bicycling. The Hutchinson City Council has supported a bicycle boulevard on Washington Street recently to assist in that area.
"That's the active transportation piece," Conkling said. "Having that Washington Boulevard is so important, because it is one block off of Main, one block off of Adams. It's that mindset that people can access a Main Street to where they need to get groceries or go to appointments or other things. They can do that on a bike, or they can do it by foot, too."
The presentation is open to the public and includes a 75-minute presentation followed by an open question-and-answer time with Marohn. The presentation is hosted by the Hutchinson Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative and funded through Pathways to a Healthy Kansas grant received from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. Hutchinson Healthy Neighborhoods is a partnership among Hutch Rec, the City of Hutchinson, and the Hutchinson-Reno County Chamber of Commerce.