Comments on: In Praise of Organic Tourism http://www.smartgrowthforconservatives.com/2015/06/03/in-praise-of-organic-tourism/ Fiscal and market perspectives on transportation and land use Sat, 06 Jun 2015 16:24:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.6 By: jabacon@baconsrebellion.com http://www.smartgrowthforconservatives.com/2015/06/03/in-praise-of-organic-tourism/#comment-2244 Thu, 04 Jun 2015 02:48:41 +0000 http://www.smartgrowthforconservatives.com/?p=1962#comment-2244 I think I could find five or six towns in the Shenandoah Valley and points south — Winchester, Harrisonburg, Staunton, Lexington, Roanoke and Blacksburg. All are situated on Interstate 81. Come to think of it, I think most are located within spitting distance of the Skyline Drive! There you go, Bern, your next vacation all laid out for you!!

]]> By: Bern Grush http://www.smartgrowthforconservatives.com/2015/06/03/in-praise-of-organic-tourism/#comment-2243 Thu, 04 Jun 2015 02:36:42 +0000 http://www.smartgrowthforconservatives.com/?p=1962#comment-2243 What I would like to see (as a retired person, who loves visiting quiet, scenic places) is a couple of tours of walkable towns. A nice two week vacation. My wife and I’d fly to some place, probably some mid-sized or large city, and we’d drive (sorry) a rental car to a series of 6 small towns each of which is more or less than an hour’s drive from the next and we’d stay in each for 2 days before poking on to the next. Each would be a showcase for walkability or some element of livability and have a car-free center of town and our hotel or B+B would be near that, and so on. It would be guided by booklet–or perhaps a local enthusiast for the museum or shops. And we’d drop a few bucks in each.

I read endless articles about walkability and bikeability, but are there six such places in such an easy-drive cluster anywhere? I’m thinking we are not yet that far along–correct me if I am wrong. This is not exactly eco-tourism, but at least it promotes small-urban successes (when there are enough of them) and draws attention to livability by adding the value of tourism to those areas that have invested in livability.

I have visited Virginia several times and think it is a beautiful state (which is saying something, since I am from the very beautiful state of Pennsylvania.) And if the promoter of such a tour could make sure the Skyline Dr was part of the bundle…

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