25 Sep Likin’ the bikin’ in Copenhagen

West Palm Beach  Mayor, Jeri Muoio is off in Denmark this week with Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Raphael Clemente, guests of a program called 8 80 Cities, which encourages municipal leaders from around the U.S. to promote walkability, bike-ability and civic engagement.

The name stands for designing cities that are safe and livable for people ages 8 to 80.

West Palm Beach was chosen as one of 13 cities to have representatives at the Knight Foundation-funded program, from Sept. 20 to 25. The cities were chosen based on what they’ve done to encourage walking and biking and to improve parks and other public spaces.

The optics may not be great, with the mayor away while neighborhoods back home hunker down amid a spate of shootings — a couple dozen over the past few months, including three people injured Sunday afternoon…. but the trip was planned for months.