Where to walk in U.S.? Henderson

By Mike Trask (contact)

Friday, July 27, 2007 | 7:27 a.m.

It's 7:45 a.m. and Bill Henning is a little disappointed that he's out late for his morning walk, accompanied by his dog , Pasha.

After 44 years of working in the casinos, Henning retired to enjoy the sunny days of Southern Nevada in Henderson, known by the pessimistic as a community of people with no connected history.

It's a magnet for retirees looking for comfort from the brutal East Coast winters, young families and recent college graduates.

There's either little time to care about local politics or the dwindling water supply, or the time to care is in the past or in the indefinite future.

But there is time for a walk.

A simple walk may be the first step toward the birth of real community, an escape from the bland big-box surroundings. On the paved trails, void of juice-bar storefronts, chain-owned bagel shops and the omnipresent Starbucks, neighbors not only wave, but take the time to say "Good morning" and maybe even make the effort to smile.

A magazine recently named Henderson as one of the best walking communities in the country, using criteria quite favorable to it: temperatures (mid-80s most summer mornings) , parks (it has dozens) and trails (37 miles).

Henderson placed sixth nationally, tucked between Seattle and San Diego, according to Prevention Magazine. The walk-crazy college kids in Madison, Wis., helped that city top the list.

Parks and trails can strengthen the community fabric in neighborhoods.

"It's probably one of the best ways to do it," said Steven Pedigo, a researcher at the Greater Washington Initiative and a nationally recognized expert in urban planning. "It's not something artificial that you can just bring in. It tends to be a unique thing."

That's what the 67-year-old Henning has found on his walks through Green Valley.

"There was a time when you wouldn't have thought of moving south of Sunset," he said, pausing to rest in a park on Paseo Verde Parkway.

Now, he notes, many wouldn't think of going north of Sunset. Henderson has developed and sprawled out across the desert. All that's left is getting people to care, to see the city the way Henning sees it, the way he used to see Buffalo, N.Y., before the steel plant jobs dried up: as home.

Henning usually sees the same joggers and walkers, and the two old ladies with the white dogs. It's a new crowd as 8 a.m. comes and the traffic gets thicker. There's a 20-something blond with an iPod getting her morning workout, an elderly couple in huge dark sunglasses, holding hands as they stroll along, and Tiffany and Kim, a pair of teens who admit they took the early walk to get away from their mothers.

A couple of recent retirees are having their morning coffee and, there goes Floyd Crowder, who turned 90 on Monday. He's been walking this trail for seven years. He also has been blind for seven years, but has nearly memorized his mile long stroll.

Resident Cynthia Romanchik takes strolls on the trails with her pair of terriers, the Vegas-named Frankie and Joey Bishop, though she admits the summer heat often keeps her indoors. The Ohio transplant enjoys the feeling of the winding pavement and seeing folks along the way. She's even made friends with a few of the other regulars.

"It's a good gathering place," she said. "It's a friendly face place. I think people feel safe out here."

Ruben Mondragon often takes his 5- and 11-year-old children for walks on the path. It's a good family place, he said. But he's quick to point out some graffiti under the bridge near Green Valley Parkway and Windmill Lane.

"They just did that about two days ago," he said. The graffiti - and the empty beer cans sometimes left in the weed-filled wash - are the kinds of things noticed by people who care.

Henning, meanwhile, is still sitting at a picnic table, sipping coffee.

He'll be back there again later in the day, when Pasha is ready for another walk. And the next day.

In some ways he's building a home, one step at a time.