In case you're wondering, the cities of Hagerstown, Maryland and New Albany, Indiana are very similar in size. They're both just shy of 40,000 residents, and they're both components of larger metropolitan area (although Louisville is far more populous than Hagerstown/Martinsburg's 270,000).
No matter, because the point remains: Like the Bill of Rights, the "Liveable Street Design Guidelines" come first. It's something we've offered from time to time, as here:
Mission Pedestrian and the Declaration of Pedestrian Rights.
It's why a city's own laws matter. It's why the mayor of Indianapolis is able to point to the city's human rights ordinances, and trump the governor. It's how we might set the tone for the walkable city, over and above reconverting one-way streets and fighting 1950s culture wars with heavy equipment operators and dull retrogrades ike Irv Stumler.
But it takes guts, resolve and will.
Politically, New Albany doesn't have any of those qualities, and if you've gone and planted a Gahan for Mayor sign in your yard in the expectation that they'll magically materialize, also toss some gravel in a spittoon filled with dirt.
Maybe some pricey Galaxy hops will grow like the weeds in a Main Street median.
When I'm mayor, we'll codify, enforce and implement the Speck plan. Complete and liveable streets are a fundamental component of quality of life, and we'll treat them as such.
Hagerstown City Council to consider 'liveable' street designs, by Dave McMillion (Herald-Mail)
As people embrace alternative forms of transportation, communities across the nation have developed guidelines to ensure that bicyclists, pedestrians and others are comfortable using public streets, according to a Hagerstown official.
City Engineer Rodney A. Tissue said that the city is now looking to adopt such guidelines.
The Hagerstown City Council Tuesday night is expected to consider implementing "Liveable Street Design Guidelines."
"Liveable" or complete streets are designed to ensure safe access for all users, Tissue said.
"It's not just for vehicles as roads have been done in the past, which I guess would be an incomplete street," Tissue said in an interview Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment