If you build it, will they come? That’s a question that
community planners and advocates will be asking this May when they host “Better
Block St. Joe” on May 4th and 5th.
For those who haven’t heard of Better Block, it is a
grassroots project that originally started in Dallas, Tex. Community members
who wanted to make their streets more livable, walkable and enjoyable decided
to stage a “temporary block experiment.” Organizers who wanted to improve a
busy area of their Dallas suburb joined together and staged a brief, real-life
street improvement. Temporary bike lanes were created; sidewalks were extended
and beautified with temporary café seating and trees in planters; temporary
businesses were created in empty buildings.
The goal? To educate local community members on how different their street
could be, if they only changed their perspective and just tried something
different—even if for a day.
Head north 500 miles and Community Development Planner Matt
Buchanan says he first heard about the Better Block project while listening to
NPR last summer. “I thought it was an awesome idea,” he explains, “and
something we could do to improve things in St. Joe.”
Currently, Mo-Kan, a regional planning commission and
economic development district in St. Joseph, Mo., is coordinating the effort
with over 100 individuals and organizations on board. “St. Joe has a lot of
history,” Buchanan says, “a lot of gorgeous old buildings in town, and so many
of them are underutilized. A lot of the businesses moved to the highway on the
outside of town, and we’re trying to go into those buildings and clean them up
and make them look more inviting to business owners.”
As part of the plan, Mo-Kan will also have a business
financing booth at their two-day event this May. Experts who can provide advice
on loans and funding will be on hand to answer questions, including St. Joseph Downtown
Partnership r staff. Buchanan says that they are currently looking for business
applications, and anyone who has ever wanted to try out a business for the
weekend, now has a chance, for free. “We have an application online,” he says,
“and people can apply to set up a pop-up temporary business. There’s no cost
and some of them might make some money, too.”
While economic development is a goal of Better Block St.
Joe, Buchanan also says that livable or complete streets elements are critical
to the project. “We’re taking out street parking and putting in more pedestrian
space and bike infrastructure,” he explains. “We’re going to build some bike
racks that can be left there permanently and paint some better pedestrian
crossings.”
Why all the work, though? “It’s important to change some
perceptions,” he continues, “especially for our downtown. A lot of people think
that downtown is dead and no longer relevant. And some people might think it’s
unsafe, even though it’s not. [Better Block] is a good [way] to change that perception;
to get more people involved. With a project like this, people can take
ownership of it. They can come in and swing a hammer themselves. When it’s the
community involved, it’s a lot different than having the city do something on
its own. It becomes a public event.”
