Library to Host Murtagh for Talk on New Commons, Urban Planning

Tompkins County Public Library will host “Walkable City: A Local Perspective,” a presentation by Second Ward City of Ithaca Common Council member Seph Murtagh, Thursday, October 29 at 6:30 p.m. in the Thaler/Howell Programming Room.

Being held in conjunction with the Library’s Truth Be Told Non-Fiction Book Club’s November 4 discussion of “Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time” by Jeff Speck, Murtagh’s talk will address the development and potential of the new Ithaca Commons and explore the City’s push for more urban density.

Murtagh serves as Common Council representative for several downtown communities and is the chair of the Council’s Planning and Economic Development Committee, which oversees issues related to housing, land use, historic preservation, and economic development.  A former government reporter for the “Ithaca Times,” he won the 2009 

Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize from the Missouri Review for his writing about teaching in the New York State prison system. He has taught writing at Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Auburn Correctional Facility and currently works as a communications coordinator for Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton. 

Murtagh’s library talk is free and open to the public.

“Walkable City” presents a plan for American cities that focuses on making downtowns walkable and less attractive to drivers through smart growth and sustainable design.

For more information on Murtagh’s presentation or to learn more about the Truth Be Told Book Club, contact Tom Burns at tburns@tcpl.org or Stephen Salino at ssalino@tcpl.org.