14 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: Improving walkability cost me an election
I think a lot of the urban planning / walkability / environmental sustainability stuff really has to be sold to the community in terms of cold hard cash. Roundabouts reduce the taxpayer cost for cleaning up crashes. Road diets decrease the maintenance overhead. Sidewalk repair reduces legal liability. Bike lanes improve business prosperity. Transit infrastructure increases home values.
You can also talk about security: HOV lanes improve emergency response times. Pedestrian barriers defend property against car attacks and drunk driving. Traffic cameras help prosecute car theft and joyriding. Bike lockers deter petty crime. Protect your kids by making sure they can get to school safely.
As much as I personally am happy to support this stuff on principle, I think it’s important to be able to connect with folks on a nuts and bolts level. Presenting a project as saving money and securing the community makes it harder to demonize. Strong Towns has been a good example for this sort of strategy.
Comment by manchesterisbell at 11/11/2024 at 18:35 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I started reading ST a few months ago, great page
Comment by bt1138 at 12/11/2024 at 03:02 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I think that is all really solid advice. I'm an Architect, been doing it for many years and there are lots of times when you are juggling all of these things around and you have to convince people to do something new or a little differently. IT IS NOT EASY.
-->Starting from the most basic level of practicality and/or cost is the most solid foundation for convincing unsophisticated people to do something - You can add on from that foundation. Everyone is very afraid of the decisions, especially if it's going to make changes to the existing order of things, it's very hard to do.
And it's funny, a lot of decision-makers end up being suspicious of anything that sounds altruistic. God forbid - It's not often seen as a good thing n our selfish and capitalistic society. I know you'd think Government would be immune from these attitudes, but it's not.