New Town Planner Sees Potential For Alternative Transportation

Peter Kane moves one step at a time.

That's the new town planner/energy efficiency manager's work philosophy.

It's also his mode of getting around.

The 34-year-old Cambridge resident has not owned a car for more than five years.

He commutes and walks, likes to walk.

He also wants to explore ideas about how to make Swampscott more walker and biker friendly.

The first step, though, he said from his office on the third floor of the Town Hall, is to do an inventory of the town's parking and traffic situation.

He would like to complete one during summer and one during winter.

Right now Kane is working with the Planning Board on the Master Plan process which includes transportation/access.

He is also reading existing studies on the town — including the existing community development plan done in 2004 — and reading ZBA and Planning Board decisions.

"To develop a vision you have to a good sense of where you are," he said.

He likes a sense of where he is when he travels.

Walking and biking offer the walker and biker a better sense of place than driving does, he says.

Walkers tend to connect with their surroundings and people. They see where they are and what is going on as opposed to zipping down the street in a car while listening to the radio, he said.

The planner has walked parts of Swampscott and thinks the town's small footprint offers potential to promote walking.

He knows first-hand that there are places where crossing the road is difficult such as Paradise Road.

Local officials including Selectmen David Van Dam and Barry Greenfield say they are interested in hearing more about ways to promote walking in town and reduce traffic.

The town had been about two years without a planner.

Kane was hired late last year.

A third of his $47,000 salary is being paid by a Green Communities grant.

His responsibilities, as part of that grant, include writing grant requests for municipal upgrades that reduce energy consumption.

The planner said he has been welcomed by fellow town employees.

He comes to the position with a bachelor's degree from the University of Tampa, and a  certificate from Tufts University in community environmental studies and a certificate from Boston Architectural College in design computing.

He is closing in on a master's degree from Tufts in urban and environmental policy and planning.

He has completed internships with the Massachusetts Associations of Community Development Corporations and New Ecology, Inc.

He has worked in technical support and project coordinator positions.

He serves on the Cambridge Pedestrian Committee and the LivableStreets Alliance.