location, location, location
The geology, weather and community around any potential site plays a key role in the Escapement’s realization. An ideal site encompasses 200 acres, is longer than wide, embraced by gentle slopes, near running water, viewed by an overlooking hill or along a ridge, and most importantly of all, with adjacency to people and transportation. Urban or rural setting are equally appropriate.
As a template for potential TiWalkMe sites, these two examples provide a rough estimate of its overall dimensions and plan.
| Tree TiWalkMe | 175 acres |
 | Trees in the TiWalkMe Escapement are placed 6.6 meters apart, with 20 trees per row. The Escapement is thus 200 meters wide (with paths) and 8 km (5 miles) long, or about 175 acres. (For comparison, this is about twice as long as Central Park, NY and about 1/5 th the area).Water from a natural source is preferred, and associated buildings will be clustered near transportation. Such a long site might be found along a railroad right-of-way, or abandoned highway, or a filled canal. |
| Plant TiwalkMe | 8 acres |
 | Suited for an urban environment, or a modest grant of land, 10 smaller trees and bushes are placed every meter apart. The Escapement is thus a kilometer long, and perhaps 30 meters wide- for a total of 8 acres. A small site requires a tighter integration of adjacent buildings and a more precise initial landscaping design. |
Although shown above as a linear walk through time, a long spiral or even a closed ring is appropriate, depending on local conditions.
TiWalkMe hopes the site will be donated to the foundation. A surprising amount of land in America is abandoned or under used, and could find a second life (indeed a livelihood) as TiWalkMe. Among the many possibilities are:
- Golf courses. A recent boom, now bust, in golf course construction leaves much of the country overrun with links. 18 holes of golf typically consumes 60 to 100 acres of land, and many courses are for sale.
- Abandoned railways. Practically ideal in aspect ratio, near people and transportation, with buildings which can be renovated creatively; a five mile long, football field wide right-of-way could be easily converted.
- Brownfields– either old industrial sites like steel mills, strip mines, or automobile factories. Estimates run as high as 500,000 brownfields in America.
- Sanitary Landfills
- Strip Mines
- Strip Malls
- Decommissioned military bases
- Canals– many are silted, nearly all in disuse, and the original easements are still in place.
- Abandoned Roads– often along a new, “replacement” highway
- Highway medians
- Released spaces– such as Governor’s Island NYC
- Natural disasters– land unfortunately cleared by earthquakes, fires and tsunamis. To the extent these events reoccur periodically, the tiwalkme forest is an appropriate memorial. A reminder of the power of nature, given sufficient deep time.
If you know of a potential site, please see the volunteer page for our email address. While we are concentrating on a location in the United States as a convenient first trial, recommendations for future sites, in other countries, are encouraged.