Identity and Values
A neighborhood is more than just a place to live, a neighborhood is an expression of our shared identity. What is it that makes ours a neighborhood and not just a collection of addresses? This page is an attempt to sum up the core values we think of most when trying to answer that question. It is not an exhaustive list, just a few starting points to guide us when we consider the way our actions and plans will shape the future spirit of the neighborhood.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity
Neighborhoods are a reflection of our community, and our neighborhood welcomes all. We are committed to fostering, cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion.
We embrace and encourage our differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, source of income, veteran status, and other characteristics that make us unique.
We have a responsibility to treat others with dignity and respect.
Sustainability
Walkability
Walkability is an informal measurement of how easy it is for a resident of an area to get their daily needs met without having to travel very far, often without even leaving their neighborhood.
The effects of car centric design
But why?
Increased walkability also builds community. The pedestrian space acts as a third place.
Pedestrian Dignity
The concept of pedestrian dignity is very straightforward: pedestrians should be considered first class citizens in the design of our streets. Whereas walkability deals with the 'where' of urban planning, pedestrian dignity deals with the 'how'. Mainly, the question: how does a person get from one neighborhood location to another safely, comfortable, and quickly, in roughly that order, without the use of a car.
What's wrong with using a car?
Urban planners and civil engineers have done an excellent job of connecting our cities up with asphalt roadways designed to facilitate the use of cars. This infrastructure allows a person to drive in a way that satisfies our stated requirements of safety, comfort, and speed. As long as you own a car and are capable of driving it, the problem is solved.
For many people, however, the problem is not solved. Some people do not own a car. Some people can not afford one. Others are physically incapable of driving a car. The car centric nature of urban planning makes everyday life difficult for these people.
Aside from these cases, even people who do own cars and are capable of driving them may want to forgo a car for some trips. Instead of driving, people may choose to walk or bike to their destination instead. There are many reasons to do so: better health, to enjoy the views, saving money on gas, or just enjoying having the freedom to make such a choice.
The problem with the streets
Pedestrian use of the street is often an afterthought in modern urban planning. What was once the core tenet of city planning--designing for the limitations of how far a person can walk--has fallen by the wayside in favor of traffic throughput. Streets designed for cars are unsafe, uncomfortable, and inefficient for non-car users.
One fallout of this design is the state of neighborhood sidewalks. The vast majority are very narrow; they end abruptly and force pedestrians onto the asphalt. Many streets do not have sidewalks at all, forcing all pedestrians to share the space with fast moving cars for many blocks. Even the ones that exist are often in poor shape. They are overgrown with trees and plants, broken up by roots, cracked and worn from decades of neglect.
Regarding pedestrians, the rest of the street does not fare much better. Sharing asphalt with cars is inconvenient to drivers and dangerous, sometimes even deadly to those on foot. There are many reports from this very neighborhood about accidents, and other near misses that arise from this deadly combination. Above a certain speed, the majority of these interactions are likely to be fatal, and the neighborhood is no stranger to speeding on local streets.
Potholes in the street are annoying to drivers and tend to dominant conversations about 'fixing the road', but the broken, unmaintained sidewalk is often completely unnavigable to those on foot, and especially in wheelchairs. Overly wide neighborhood streets also take longer to cross, putting pedestrians--especially slower ones--in harms way for longer than necessary. Even sidewalks that are made to be accessible to those with disabilities are often uncomfortable for them to use for these reasons, and additionally due to constantly having to take a ramp in and out of the street, all under your own power.