Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition
Transportation Equity in Our City
“A new report shows how dangerous it has become to walk along the street. The Governors Highway Safety Association estimates the number of pedestrian deaths last year was 6,000 nationwide.”
Pedestrians: wear bright or reflective clothing, remove earbuds, make eye contact with drivers, cross only at crosswalks, never talk, text or use electronic devices in an intersections. Drivers: carry on. #CarCulture
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In graduate school, I had a professor who would refer critically to the “white proximity model” of neighborhood revitalization. Shelterforce describes this model as follows:
Somehow, policymakers and government officials have bought the myth that simply by living next door to each other, wealthy white professionals will lift poor Black people out of poverty — serving as role models and handing out job referrals.
Few people might consciously agree with that provocative statement, but common narratives about how to deal with concentrated poverty — disperse it, and facilitate moving poor people into “opportunity neighborhoods” and wealthy people into poor neighborhoods — are laden with unconscious and unexamined bias about what makes a neighborhood rich with opportunity in the first place.”
“Far too many of us listen to people looking for where they’re wrong. We immediately go into dissecting, “Fisking” mode. At our worst, we’re hoping to score points rather than engage with what we might learn from what they’re saying.
Instead, when you listen to someone you disagree with (especially someone you disagree with), listen for where they’re right. Everyone is right about something. Everyone believes what they believe because of something in their own experience, some basic truth that motivates his or her world view. Find that person’s ground truth.
You can learn something from everyone who cares about your city.”
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https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/2/23/calming-the-waters
February 20, 2018, Philip Rojc
The rise of the automobile pushed pedestrians to the side, and modern roads often deny them a place to walk altogether. “American society has so normalized our inferior sidewalk system that we don’t believe we deserve a place to walk.”
Meanwhile, a supposed “walking revolution” hasn’t materialized, despite Complete Streets redesigns and campaigns to promote walking. “In 2016, Americans drove more miles than they have in any other year in history.”
Frustratingly, says Walker, pedestrian improvements are now often perceived as a sign of gentrification. “Yet clean, safe, unbroken sidewalks have become such a rarity in this country that designing an area where people can get around primarily by walking—the one mode of transportation that is available and accessible to everyone—is now seen as a harbinger of displacement.”
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Full story, long form in Curbed:
HOW CITIES CAN CREATE NEW AVENUES FOR PEDESTRIANS
https://www.curbed.com/2018/2/7/16980682/city-sidewalk-repair-future-walking-neighborhood
By Megan Hottman February 13, 2018
http://www.roadbikereview.com/reviews/understanding-the-cycling-3-foot-rule
48% of survey respondents said they prefer to live in communities with small houses and yards but within walking distance to the community’s amenities. Learn how walkable urban places are having a comeback moment.
“I grew up and into a love of architecture, streets, trees, buses, trains and lots of other things in the environment. Now I bring this to you in a format that is straightforward about who I am, a black urbanist, a young woman of African-American descent who likes all things built environment, especially when it comes to cities.”
“I’m a firm believer that transportation is one place where equity can and should be had. At the end of the day, a street is a street, we all have to use them and their presence should not be the signal of gentrification you worry about. It should be the one you champion to get you to where you need to go. Hence why I’m here advocating for what some call complete streets, others call road diets and yet others call road gentrification.”
The author/blogger bio:
Kristen E. Jeffers is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Black Urbanist, author of A Black Urbanist (second edition forthcoming), creator of the public speaking course Plan to Speak and 1/2 of the podcast Third Wave Urbanism, as well as a freelance writer, urban planner and advocate. She holds a Master of Public Affairs focused on community and economic development from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, and a Bachelor of Arts in communication with a concentration in public relations from North Carolina State University.
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http://theblackurbanist.com/why-road-gentrification-is-good-gentrification/
Amy Levner, a vice president at KaBOOM!, the U.S. nonprofit that works to provide community-designed play spaces for children living in poverty, said the narrative of child-friendly cities has intensified in the past year, and a recent report on the subject from London-based design firm Arup has furthered the conversation. “The fact that the work came out of a major, multinational firm is exciting,” she said. “It’s not just coming from academics or policymakers, so it’s reaching a different, broader audience.”
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https://www.citylab.com/design/2018/02/how-to-design-cities-for-children/552086/
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