Streets-Return them to the People

On Thursday, I was one of the many people who attended alumni, Jeanette Sadik-Khan’s lecture in Keck Theatre. I was already very excited when I entered the theatre, but left quite inspired. She is an excellent speaker, and hearing the progress that is being made in New York is completely stunning. The last time I visited New York was five years ago, and remember being so appalled by all of the traffic and pedestrians shoved to the side. I don’t remember seeing any bicycles around either. But after that talk, I am planning on returning this summer, checking out a bike and riding it all around the city, hopefully I’ll also be able to be there for the summer street program.

I am surprised that what is happening in New York—returning the streets to the people – was not mentioned in our transportation or building section in UEP 101. These are true “complete streets” and it’s encouraging knowing that they have been implemented in a city in the US. This is also a great example of how great leadership can really turn the tides. This has always seemed like a questionable claim, because frequently, as great as a leadership team may be, change does not always occur. This example definitely restored—at least for now-- my confidence in local government.

To continue on with this inspiring week, I attended the Street Summit a couple of days later. My dad attended last year’s bike summit and really enjoyed it, so I was happy to see that it had expanded to be a street summit, something that absolutely all community members could directly relate to. The keynote speakers were very good, and I was happy to see that Long Beach was putting in the effort to return to its beach-town roots.

One of the workshops that I attended was on how to connect low-income Spanish speakers with biking. I had never really thought about the fact that there are to classes of bikers –ones that ride out of necessity, and those that do it as an alternative. The approaches that Ciudad de Luz was taking to connect the two, was quite interesting. I found their whole approach really brilliant, connecting the LA Bicycle Coalition with the Day Labor Center near MacArthur Park. The manual that they released also looked fascinating and I hope to get one of them.

All in all, I am truly looking forward to attending more lectures and events like these, and most of all, be an active supporter and creator of all the positive changes taking place.