The reinvention of indoor walking for sustainable non-motorized active living in winter cities

Winter cities suffer with severe inclement weather patterns. Walking outdoors during winter months is not comfortable, safe or pleasant. This condition accentuates sedentarism and car dependence, and tends to worsen health patterns. The purpose of this article was to analyze how the city of Albany, New York, enables walking conditions, with particular attention to two subterranean facilities: The underground concourse at the Empire State Plaza and the service tunnels at the University of Albany uptown campus. This article answers the research question of how winter cities can provide more indoor walking opportunities to their residents, workers and visitors. The argument is that all cities benefit from comfortable, safe and pleasant walking environments; however, winter cities tend to benefit the most from the existence of indoor, grade-separated walking facilities. Although large winter cities have extensive grade-separated pedestrian networks, medium size winter cities tend to have isolated and unconnected underground facilities. This type of city would benefit from extending, and especially connecting, their existing underground pedestrian facilities, where possible. The key finding is an up-to-date analysis of how two underground indoor walking facilities are performing their functions and a series of implications for other winter cities throughout the world.