Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Hear directly from Stephanie Orman, the Mayor of Bentonville, AR, Jessica Pearson, Bentonville Moves Coalition Manager, and Sara Studdard, Partner with City Thread, about the City's recent accomplishment of building out 30 miles of safe and inviting bike lanes in just 3 years, and the emergence of Bentonville's Culture of Activity.
Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Bentonville Moves Coalition: bentonvillemoves.org
👉 City Thread: citythread.org
👉 Bentonville Parks & Recreation: bentonvillear.com/1691/Parks-Recreation
👉 Jessica Pearson on the Visit Bentonville Podcast: bit.ly/45GFMTC
👉 City Thread sizzle video on the Bentonville 30 in 3 success story: youtu.be/uM7TxaR6cNQ
🤙 This video features my beloved Brompton folding bicycle. I highly recommend buying your own Brompton from your local dealer if you have one or from my favorite Boulder, Colorado-based store, Freedom Folding Bikes (yes, they can ship the bike directly to you - that's what they've done for me): freedomfoldingbikes.com
🙌 Mention Active Towns for a special deal on accessories and add-ons. More information on Freedom Folding Bikes can be found here: cpr.org/2024/10/23/ukraine-family-boulder-freedom-folding-bikes
Chapters
0:00:00 Video Introduction
0:00:20 Meeting Mayor Stephanie Orman
0:00:51 Achieving 30 miles in 3 Years - A Tribute to Community and Collaboration
0:01:26 Bikes Connect the Community
0:01:57 How Non-Riders Benefit from the Cycle Network
0:03:10 Sara on the Connecting Bentonville Moves Plan
0:05:55 Bentonville as an Active Community
0:06:52 The Mayor's Advice for other cities
0:08:18 Balancing Preservation and Growth
0:09:05 Wayfinding Signage and Art on the New Car-Free Street / Promenade
0:10:52 Real Bollards Car-Free Alleys
0:11:07 Inspiration from Carmel, IN
0:11:50 Bentonville to Host Cycle Network Study Tours
0:13:07 Thoughtful Intentionality
0:13:57 Introducing the Ledger - The First Bikeable Building
0:15:23 Everybody Working Together
0:16:04 Sara acknowledging the Mayor's Leadership
0:17:18 Cycle Network is seen as part of the transportation network
0:18:19 Consolidating the Mobility Plans
0:19:03 Closing Comments
0:19:33 Credits While Riding Up the Ledger Building
Thank you so much for watching! If you enjoyed this video, please give it a thumbs-up, leave a comment below, and share it with a friend. If you'd like more content like this, please subscribe to the Active Towns Channel, and be sure to "Ring" that notification bell to select your notification preferences.
If you are a fan of the Active Towns Channel, please consider supporting the effort as an Active Towns Ambassador in the following ways:
1. Become a Member of Active Towns right here on YouTube by clicking on the Join button and selecting the level that best suits you
2. Join the Patreon community: patreon.com/activetowns
(Note: Patron benefits include early, ad-free access to all my video content)
3. If you enjoyed this video, you can also "leave a tip" by clicking on the Super Thanks button right here on YouTube or through "Buy Me a Coffee" buymeacoffee.com/activetowns
4. Make a donation to my non-profit, Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. at activetowns.org/donate
Credits: Video and audio production by John Simmerman
Music via Epidemic Sound: bit.ly/3rFLErD
Resources used during the production of this video:
- My recording platform is Ecamm Live: bit.ly/3rwsUup
- Editing software Adobe Creative Cloud Suite: bit.ly/35DBDDU
For more information about the Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit our links below:
Website: activetowns.org
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/activetowns.bsky.social
Newsletter: bit.ly/SubscribeActiveTownsNewsletter
Background:
Hi Everyone! My name is John Simmerman, and I’m a health promotion and public health professional with over 35 years of experience. Over the years, my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization in how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.
Since 2010, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be while striving to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."
The Active Towns Channel features my original video content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.
Thanks once again for tuning in! I hope you find this content helpful and insightful.
Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2025
Hear directly from Stephanie Orman, the Mayor of Bentonville, AR, Jessica Pearson, Bentonville Moves Coalition Manager, and Sara Studdard, Partner with City Thread, about the City's recent accomplishment of building out 30 miles of safe and inviting bike lanes in just 3 years, and the emergence of Bentonville's Culture of Activity.
Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
👉 Bentonville Moves Coalition: bentonvillemoves.org
👉 City Thread: citythread.org
👉 Bentonville Parks & Recreation: bentonvillear.com/1691/Parks-Recreation
👉 Jessica Pearson on the Visit Bentonville Podcast: bit.ly/45GFMTC
👉 City Thread sizzle video on the Bentonville 30 in 3 success story: youtu.be/uM7TxaR6cNQ
🤙 This video features my beloved Brompton folding bicycle. I highly recommend buying your own Brompton from your local dealer if you have one or from my favorite Boulder, Colorado-based store, Freedom Folding Bikes (yes, they can ship the bike directly to you - that's what they've done for me): freedomfoldingbikes.com
🙌 Mention Active Towns for a special deal on accessories and add-ons. More information on Freedom Folding Bikes can be found here: cpr.org/2024/10/23/ukraine-family-boulder-freedom-folding-bikes
Chapters
0:00:00 Video Introduction
0:00:20 Meeting Mayor Stephanie Orman
0:00:51 Achieving 30 miles in 3 Years - A Tribute to Community and Collaboration
0:01:26 Bikes Connect the Community
0:01:57 How Non-Riders Benefit from the Cycle Network
0:03:10 Sara on the Connecting Bentonville Moves Plan
0:05:55 Bentonville as an Active Community
0:06:52 The Mayor's Advice for other cities
0:08:18 Balancing Preservation and Growth
0:09:05 Wayfinding Signage and Art on the New Car-Free Street / Promenade
0:10:52 Real Bollards Car-Free Alleys
0:11:07 Inspiration from Carmel, IN
0:11:50 Bentonville to Host Cycle Network Study Tours
0:13:07 Thoughtful Intentionality
0:13:57 Introducing the Ledger - The First Bikeable Building
0:15:23 Everybody Working Together
0:16:04 Sara acknowledging the Mayor's Leadership
0:17:18 Cycle Network is seen as part of the transportation network
0:18:19 Consolidating the Mobility Plans
0:19:03 Closing Comments
0:19:33 Credits While Riding Up the Ledger Building
Thank you so much for watching! If you enjoyed this video, please give it a thumbs-up, leave a comment below, and share it with a friend. If you'd like more content like this, please subscribe to the Active Towns Channel, and be sure to "Ring" that notification bell to select your notification preferences.
If you are a fan of the Active Towns Channel, please consider supporting the effort as an Active Towns Ambassador in the following ways:
1. Become a Member of Active Towns right here on YouTube by clicking on the Join button and selecting the level that best suits you
2. Join the Patreon community: patreon.com/activetowns
(Note: Patron benefits include early, ad-free access to all my video content)
3. If you enjoyed this video, you can also "leave a tip" by clicking on the Super Thanks button right here on YouTube or through "Buy Me a Coffee" buymeacoffee.com/activetowns
4. Make a donation to my non-profit, Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. at activetowns.org/donate
Credits: Video and audio production by John Simmerman
Music via Epidemic Sound: bit.ly/3rFLErD
Resources used during the production of this video:
- My recording platform is Ecamm Live: bit.ly/3rwsUup
- Editing software Adobe Creative Cloud Suite: bit.ly/35DBDDU
For more information about the Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit our links below:
Website: activetowns.org
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/activetowns.bsky.social
Newsletter: bit.ly/SubscribeActiveTownsNewsletter
Background:
Hi Everyone! My name is John Simmerman, and I’m a health promotion and public health professional with over 35 years of experience. Over the years, my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization in how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.
Since 2010, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be while striving to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."
The Active Towns Channel features my original video content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.
Thanks once again for tuning in! I hope you find this content helpful and insightful.
Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2025
