What Is A Livable Community?

Asbury Park Complete streets Coalition advocates for a city that provides equitable access for everyone, especially the most vulnerable.

This webinar (see the video below) addresses:

  • the overall benefits of creating places that are equitable, walkable and transit-oriented
  • how zoning and other policy interventions affect the form, development and diversity of the built environment
  • creative ways for providing and sustaining transit services in diverse communities
  • first- and last-mile access to public transportation
  • opportunity zones and the funding and financing opportunities that are available for equitable development projects and activities through public and private programs and partnerships
  • how to build political will for equitable transit-oriented development

Equitable Transit-Oriented Development

Watch a video webinar presented by Smart Growth America

An illustration shows that equality is giving the same bicycle to each person. Equity is giving each person a bicycle that’s suitable to their size and ability.

AARP LIVABLE COMMUNITIES

“When we think about community development, transportation investments, as well as community engagement, too often the conversation is around how we take one specific policy and apply it to all communities and diverse populations,” Christopher Coes explains in this training webinar, hosted by AARP Livable Communities.

That is done, he adds, “without truly understanding how those populations, whether vulnerable or senior citizens, have their own unique challenges and require specific resources for them to be successful.”

In the equity space, land use decisions and transportation investments need to, Coes notes, “be applicable to all citizens where they are.”

Equity In Urbanism Is A Matter Of Life And Death

We have much to learn as we work to create a city for people, by taking antiracist action in the built environment.  We must:

  1. Acknowledge that equity is a matter of life and death — not an “add-on”.
  2. Center Black communities in transportation planning.
  3. Honor Black anger.

‘Centering Equity is a Matter of Life and Death’: Responding to Anti-Black Racism in Urbanism

 

Five visionary leaders shared their wisdom on how to take antiracist action in the built environment professions. Here are a few of the highlights for Streetsblog readers.

 

For the video:

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2020/06/24/centering-equity-is-a-matter-of-life-and-death-responding-to-anti-black-racism-in-urbanism/

The Bicycle Is An Emblem Of Freedom And A Vehicle Of Protest

The bicycle has been an active player in social justice activism for decades, and the inequity in the treatment of people riding bikes has been documented through history. Adolf Hitler’s in 1933 criminalized cycling unions. In 1989 demonstrators in China poured into Tiananmen Square on bicycles, and then flattened frames and wheels were left behind after tanks moved in.

During Black Lives Matter protests bikes are being confiscated. When a curfew is enforced people walking and on bikes are targeted, while people in cars are permitted to drive. A disturbing recent twist has emerged, and as advocates for police on bikes in Asbury Park, we are horrified by images of bicycles being used by police in some cities as weapons against protesters.

As APCSC continues to advocate for safe bicycling infrastructure, we know that a rise in real estate values often accompanies biking and walking improvements. Although it is not causal, there is a reluctance on the part of residents to embrace bicycling and walking improvements for fear of gentrification.  We must be energized to address affordable housing and retain residents while creating safe environment for people to move about the city. There are millions of every day bike riders and walkers – people who don’t own cars – who deserve better, equitable access to jobs and school. “Invisible riders” is a term describing the marginalization of black, brown, female, and working-class cyclists, illustrating that t

freedom of movement for everyone.

 

Asbury Park ReOPEN Plan

ASBURY PARK OPENS STREETS FOR PEOPLE…Let’s do it every day.

Polli Schildge, Editor, June 16th, 2020

In a bold move Asbury Park showed support for restaurants by passing a resolution at last week’s council meeting to “permit restaurants to host diners inside at 25% of the building’s capacity or 50 people, whichever is fewer”. This was an interpretation of Governor Murphy’s Executive Order No. 152 and Executive Order No. 150, allowing establishments to open with limited capacity indoors.

The city backed off as reported in ABC6 Philadelphia, after the state sued on Friday and a judge issued an order temporarily blocking the town’s attempt to allow indoor dining. “Mayor John Moor and the council released a statement Friday evening recommending that restaurants not serve diners indoors”, and as described in The Patch, Asbury Park is providing space for businesses and restaurants to operate outdoors starting on Monday, June 15th.

To provide space for people to walk and dine safely, the City Council has announced ReOPEN Asbury Park : Business & Community Recovery Strategy Plan. Streets in the business district and other select streets will be open for walking, dining, bicycling, and other recreation from Thursday through Sunday.

Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition applauds the city in this forward-thinking approach to providing space for people to move through the the city with social distancing, and for businesses to begin recoup revenue, described at 94.3 The Point.  However opening streets only Thursday through Sunday is not enough. We suggest that the ReOPEN Plan provides open streets 7 days a week. On Monday evening, June 15th, the first day that restaurants were permitted to serve outdoors, sidewalks along Cookman Ave. were packed with diners and walkers, while cars cruised on the street as drivers circled and idled waiting for parking.  The sidewalks are simply not wide enough. A huge swath of the business district is covered in asphalt, and dominated by cars – space which could be utilized for safely distanced  dining and walking. Restaurant and business owners are supportive of the plan, acknowledging that residents and business patrons will appreciate the ability to access city streets without having to dodge cars.

Asbury Park ReOPEN Plan outlines opening streets for people and restricting access to cars Thursdays through Sundays. The plan will:

1. Expand capacity for restaurant, retail and services

2. Utilize public space as a mechanism to allow people to maintain social distancing

3. Provide opportunities for residents to safely enjoy their neighborhoods

 

 

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