Monday, January 30, 2012

Powerful stuff. But are "sharing" ideas too "political" for timid Main Street organizations?

There's a lot to chew on here; thanks Andy.

The blog is Strong Towns, and the article is Shared Space. The ideas for debating therein remind us that in so many ways, New Albany is sufficiently degraded at this point in time to conceivably serve as a bold laboratory of innovation, and yet we are held back from doing so not so much by short funds, but from the perpetual cautious urge on the part of community pillars to endlessly repeat their previous failed tactics.

Here's the intro:
The concept of building shared space within the public realm is a radical one here in the United States, where automobiles are not only given priority, but completely dominate most public spaces. With the financial insolvency inherent in our current approach becoming more and more apparent each day, there is a need to study alternatives. The shared space model -- while a dramatic departure from the status quo -- can help us build Strong Towns while making our urban neighborhoods safer in the process.

1 comment:

Jeff Gillenwater said...

Organizations who think so aren't Main Street organizations. There's no sense in pretending they are, nor in waiting for them to become one.