Dan Burden — America’s most legendary walkability and bikeability expert, and director of innovation at Blue Zones — is in good traffic to share a lifetime’s worth of work on making cities and streets more livable. He’s played a role in walkable design projects in thousands of communities, in all 50 states.
Dan is also the mastermind behind the 4,300 mile long TransAmerica bike route, and leader of the famous bike journey from Alaska to Argentina.


We discuss:
00:00 Dan Burden is in good traffic.
00:45 Dan’s first autonomous vehicle (Waymo) ride.
04:06 Biking into a career in urban planning and design.
13:35 Getting tapped to be the nation’s first bike and pedestrian coordinator… in Florida.
18:50 Walkability gaining momentum in American cities.
36:33 The three stages of cultural bike adoption.
37:38 Maintaining optimism throughout a long career in city planning.
43:37 Planning for the future of urban transportation.
52:35 Navigating political and social landscapes in city building.
01:00:37 Urban planners are storytellers.
01:12:22 Reflecting on a 50+ year career.


For content:
Biking across the U.S., thanks to Dan.
Dan’s work archive.
Blue Zones.


Connect with Dan:
On LinkedIn.


Connecting with me, Brad:
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On Instagram.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On TikTok⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On LinkedIn⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠