Hans Riemer, a Democrat running for an at-large seat on the Montgomery County Council

Walkable & Bikable Neighborhoods: What makes for a great place to live? Is it a community engaged in its own decisions? Is it access to restaurants and convenience retail? Is it proximity to transit, and the ease of walking and biking, whether for trips to the store or to the park? Surely it is all of the above and plenty more. I believe we must reform our Department of Transportation's mission to focus more on making great places to live. A simple step is to prioritize walkability and put our resources behind it. A community that is walkable is a community with a high quality of life. The Federal government is moving to treat walking and biking as "equal" to driving in its prioritization. How many people would ride bikes if it were more safe and convenient? We should find out. Not only do we need connected, safe, separated bike lanes and trails county wide, but we should see just what we can accomplish in a city like Rockville, Bethesda or Silver Spring if we made biking a real priority. Let's build a test case for a new vision.