Walking Downtown

For those of you living, working or playing in downtown Tacoma, you probably know how to get to and from your destinations, but what about the spaces in between?  On Friday, The News Tribune featured an article on some of those in-between spaces that should be destinations on their own.

The article focuses on the walks around downtown promoted by Downtown On The Go and their series of walking maps.  Partnering with Multicare, the Tacoma Regional Convention + Visitor Bureau, Pacific Lutheran University, and the City of Tacoma's Office of Sustainability, Downtown On The Go produced a series of five walking maps covering most parts of downtown.  The article goes beyond the history included in the maps to tell some additional downtown stories.

The maps themselves each cover a route about 40-50 minutes long while including a series of highlights along the path.  At under an hour, any of them can be completed during a lunch hour.  The five maps currently available include:

-Downtown to Hilltop

-Brewery District to South Downtown

-North Waterfront to Theatre District

-South Waterfront to Tacoma Dome Station

-Wright Park to Stadium District

Electronic copies of these maps can be found at Downtown On The Go's "Walk Tacoma" page.  Hard copies can be obtained by contacting Kristina Walker, Downtown On The Go Manager, at kristinaw@tacomachamber.org or 253.682.1739.

Walk Tacoma: A Lunchtime Walking Event to Introduce Five New Downtown Walking Maps

Wear your walking shoes and come ready to walk - Rain or Shine!

When:
Friday, June 4th 11:45am-1:00pm

Where:
The Waterfront Amphitheater
(on the waterfront side of the Museum of Glass and Albers Mill)

What:
Downtown: On the Go! and partners will introduce five new
Walk Tacoma downtown walking maps during this lunchtime walking event.

Enjoy a healthy lunch (free for the first 50 pedestrians), music, a goodie bag full of great giveaways, and a brief interpretive walk along one of the five new walking map routes.

Walk Tacoma Walking Maps Background Info
In early 2010, Downtown: On the Go! convened a group of stakeholders within the downtown community to create downtown focused walking maps. The goals for these maps include: incentivizing walking as a healthy lunchtime activity, encouraging awareness of walkable distances, and cultivating an appreciation of Tacoma’s rich past, present, and future. The stakeholders developed five downtown walking map routes and the maps are now ready for distribution.

The Walk Tacoma maps were designed by talented students from Pacific Lutheran University’s Design Team, and generously printed by MultiCare’s Center for Healthy Living.

Branded as Walk Tacoma, each route takes the pedestrian on an interpretive tour of 8-10 sites. Even veteran Tacomans will discover something new as each map blends information on major landmarks and hidden gems. Routes average 1.5 miles in length, range in difficulty, and include estimates for calories burned.