Scenes from Carthage: a Missouri Livable Streets Training

Livable and Complete Streets advocates have long known that policy and planning changes can go hand-in-hand to create vibrant, safe streets and neighborhoods. But do you know what happens during a training? Hear from local transportation planners and engineers at a training in Carthage, Missouri. Co-hosted by the Harry S Truman Coordinating Council, Trailnet and Missouri Livable Streets, participants not only learned about the benefits of active design but took to the streets themselves to see what's working and what's not. Watch video>>>

Springfield passes Complete Streets Policy

From Mo Livable Streets website:

Congratulations, Springfield! In late December, the City Council of Springfield voted unanimously to adopt a Complete Streets policy. Community leaders and residents of Springfield has been working for many years to create safe roadways for all users, whether on foot, bicycle, bus or car. These efforts have included Springfield’s Field Guide 2030, a strategic plan that outlines the direction the community will take in order to meet the demands of the 21st century, including making streets and neighborhoods more vibrant and accessible for all users.

Springfield now adds their Complete Streets policy to ensure:

“Every public street, walkway, and greenways trail right‐of‐way in Springfield should be planned, designed, constructed, maintained and operated to the fullest extent feasible to provide a transportation system such that all users will have transportation options to safely and conveniently travel to their destinations.”

Read the policy

Transportation for Everyone

Leaders from McDonald County Focus on Livable Streets

By Sarah Canavese

When I sat down to talk with leaders from communities working with Missouri Livable Streets communities, I suspected I would hear a lot about the healthy living benefits to passing these policies. But when I sat down to talk to Paige Behm from McDonald County, I was in for a surprise.
Behm is the health administrator for McDonald County Health Department and when we talked about why she thought there was a need for sidewalks and livable streets, she was quick with her answer.

“Poverty is a big issue here. We really don’t have public transportation… so, it makes it difficult for people who don’t have transportation,” said Behm. “What they are having to do is rely on other people to get to and from where they need to go. But if they need [a ride] or [are] relying on [others] to get to work, that is a real issue. If you don’t get to work on time, you loose your job, and that just keeps you in poverty.”

Behm’s comment was eye-opening. McDonald County sits at the far southwestern corner of the state. According to County Health Rankings 2014 data, out of the 115 counties in Missouri (including St. Louis City), McDonald ranks 97th in health outcomes. Its residents experience high rates of obesity and other chronic disease, and many are uninsured.

Likewise, nearly 26 percent of those living in McDonald County identify as having poor or fair health (CHR 2014) and according to the American Community Survey,* McDonald County has a 19.3 percent disabilities rate, Behm made it clear that allowing for others, not just motorists to use the road is very important. She talked about a man in a wheelchair she regularly sees who motivates her.

“Really, it is the man in the wheelchair who can’t cross the street safely. That is what motivates me,” she said. “It is because I see him… from time to time and he is trying to get across traffic in a wheelchair because that’s his only transportation.”

Continues Behm, “As far as [Livable Streets] benefits, there are economic benefits because people want to move to healthy communities. There are benefits for business [because] along with healthy communities comes economic growth.”

But these benefits, Behm acknowledged, can be hard to envision when communities fear that the changes could generate higher costs. “[That] is the hardest challenge,” she said, “getting people to realize that it doesn’t always cost money. They think taxes are going to go up, and that is one of the challenges is educating them [on] what the policies are. It doesn’t mean an increase in taxes.”

As part of her work in McDonald County, Behm plans to continue supporting local efforts, including the work of local betterment clubs. These betterment clubs work to help generate conversation on active design or Livable Street topics within the community and are already planning events to raise money for walking trails. “The thing about McDonald County,” she explains, “[is] that once one city does something, [people] see [and say], ‘Wow, another city has done it. We should do that.’ I think it will take one city to take that first step and the others will follow.”

To learn more about how you can get involved visit Missouri Livable Streets.

*According to the ACS there are six different disability types: hearing difficulty, vision difficulty, cognitive difficulty, ambulatory difficulty, self-care difficulty and independent living difficulty. To read each categories definition you can find them here.

Tourism up ahead!

A discussion with Chillicothe’s city administrator about Livable Streets

By Sarah Canavese

 

Courtesy: City of Chillicothe

Imagine walking down the sidewalks of a charming downtown area in Missouri. Around you are the brightly colored awnings of a locally owned businesses, and just up ahead, there’s a group of teenagers going into the ice cream shop. It’s summer, and hot, and now that you think of it, all this walking is making you hungry, too. You should go into the ice cream shop as well, but on your way there, you see a shoe store. It’s August, time for back to school, and your kids could use a new pair.

Can you imagine this scene unfolding? Ike Holland, Chillicothe city administrator can and he is working on creating the perfect place for tourism to bloom. One key to achieving his goal of vibrant tourism is through the Missouri Livable Streets project.

Holland spent eight years working in Colorado, giving him first-hand experience with how a town that thrives on tourism should look. “When I came to Missouri and I saw this Livable Streets program, I was glad because people don’t see the quality of life benefits or the economic benefits, unless they have experienced it. So it was a very easy sell, [it] wasn’t much of a sell for me,” Holland explains.

For Chillicothe, though, before Holland can share the benefits of creating livable streets, he has to generate the interest among residents and stakeholders.

“I know it works,” Holland said of building tourism through livable streets. “You have to take it in stride and understand that we are doing this in stages. I am confident and when it’s complete, each stage gains momentum because people start to understand what is going on. In Colorado, you are so dependent on tourism and we used to say, ‘We will get others to pay for our projects.’ So the tourists, they pay for the highways, the hot springs, the ski resorts. [Communities] don’t realize the people who live there don’t pay for it, it’s the tourism [that does].”

Part of the hesitance communities may experience when considering policies encouraging livable streets often is due to these concerns about cost. “For the street planning that was done 20 or 30 years ago,” said Holland, “the norm was to do away with the sidewalks and reduce cost as much as possible. Crosswalks were minimized to save money. Now we are having to go back and basically redo a lot of these main roads. It’s a shame that sidewalks went out of style.”

Continues Holland, “The funding for streets is provided by the sales tax here in the community and it hasn’t increased over the years, but the cost of materials and labor has. So every year, I get less for my dollar but still have to maintain the streets. It’s a tough choice for communities to make, but the community is behind the projects. We built a new hospital and we are going to include sidewalks as part of the project. We are also implementing some really nice streetlights to go along the sidewalks.”

It should come as no surprise then that any hesitance around passing a policy doesn’t stop Holland from feeling the excitement this project has brought on. “In the bigger scheme of things, yes it [may] cost money. But the bang for the buck is big.”

Holland emphasizes that making the changes now will benefit the community in the long-term. “In about ten to 15 years, 25 percent of the population is going to be over 65 [years old]. One of the things people over 65 like to do is walk. If you have a small or large town that encourages walking, and you can do it in a safe way, you will do it. That’s step one. The second step is tourism. All those things combined are reasons why we are looking at making Chillicothe a very livable community.”

To learn more visit Missouri Livable Streets.

Training for the Future

Courtesy: MoBroadBandNow.com

By Sarah Canavese

“Regional Training." To some, regional training might sound like a way to get out of the office and learn a new technique for their job. To others the terms conjure up meetings, where attendance is required and attendees watch hours of PowerPoint slides.

To David Cheek, transportation planner at Mark Twain RegionalCouncil of Governments, regional training means the eight counties he works with get to experience for the first time training offered by PedNet through Missouri Livable Streets. “I was just excited and pleased to be able to reach out to the area that we serve and being able to offer the training such as it was, to come of our more rural police departments,” he said. “That was gratifying.”

Based in Perry, Mo., Mark Twain Regional Council of Government (MTRCOG) is one of seven communities and/or organizations Missouri Livable Streets is assisting in active design training and education. The Council is governed by an executive board, which has two representatives from each county that it represents.  Their primary purpose is to set policies for the operation of the Council and the development of the region.

All eight counties the MTRCOG serves, Audrain, Marion, Monroe, Macon, Ralls, Randolph, Pike and Shelby were invited to participate in the first training session and will be involved going forward.

One of the novel and critical training programs offered by Missouri Livable Streets in collaboration with PedNet is law enforcement training. While educating the public and motorists about Livable Streets or active design elements and laws is critical, another key element is training police and law enforcement professional on these elements and laws, too.

“When you live in a rural community with only one police officer, I mean, they still have a lot of stuff to do, and probably getting training on how to deal with bicyclists is not at the top of their list,” Cheek said. However, Cheek agreed that as enforcers of local laws and policies, officers are natural stakeholders in the process.

MTRCOG’s training for law enforcement professionals was held in June for a small team of officers from the area. Officers learned the rules and regulations bicyclists need to follow, and other laws that pertain to bicycling. Cheek explained that most of the officers were from rural towns, and the training was an opportunity to share information about laws and regulations with which they might be less familiar.

Cheek shared, “I think that is where the best value came from for the officers; they probably hadn’t had this type of training, and it was definitely beneficial that it was POST certified.”
 

(POST stands for Peace Officer Standards and Training and all sworn officers must maintain these peace officer licenses. According to the Missouri Department of Public Safety, all licensed peace officers and reserve officers must complete at least 48 hours continuing education to maintain their peace officer license.)

Interested in bringing a Missouri Livable Streets training to your community or group of law enforcement professionals? Learn how at: http://livablestreets.missouri.edu/attend/.

Bowling Green Plans for the Future

By Sarah Canavese

Source: Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce

Recently I had a chance to sit down and talk with seven different communities that are partnering with Missouri Livable Streets. In talking with them, I learned why they needed livable streets, what benefits their community hoped to gain, and what other communities could learn from their journeys. In my first post, I share what I learned from Bowling Green, a small community in Pike County in northeastern Missouri. Please be sure to check the Missouri Livable Streets blog for future posts from the other communities, too.

Bowling Green

After I sat down with Dan Lang, the one thing that I took away from the interview was how his past experience as an urban planner has helped him realize how much Livable Streets would complement his community.

Prior to his present position as city administrator of Bowling Green, Lang worked as an urban planner, and back then, Bowling Green was one of his client communities. As part of his job, he did a comprehensive plan for Bowling Green and quickly saw the need for Livable Streets.

“There were a number of aspects related to livable communities or livable streets philosophy that came out of that planning exercise,” Lang said. “Bowling Green is a small, somewhat rural community. I have noticed since I have been here that there is a continuing and renewed interest in walking.”

Fast-forward a few years and when Lang became city administrator, he started to put those ideas, observations and plans into action. After joining the Missouri Livable Streets mailing list and hearing about the opportunity to partner with the project team in 2014, Lang quickly put forward the application for Bowling Green. The town was selected as one of seven communities to receive technical assistance and other information for considering or implementing Livable Streets policies.

Lang sees the assistance well timed to what is happening in his community. “I see a lot of people participating in walking: we have a very well used walking path in our city park… there’s a lot of interest here of people getting out and walking the community and bicycling to some extent.”

Among the challenges that Lang faces, he shared, “It’s difficult to get enough people in the community to know about it, to support an effort, and to move forward with the project. I think education is the key. And I think, too, in most communities, the impact of the cost associated with doing things within your community, whether that’s with streets, or construction of bicycle paths, there is always a funding side to that and can be an issue.”

Acknowledging the challenges, Lang’s commitment is still steady. “I want them to know that it is an achievable policy. If there is a way for us to incorporate [Livable Streets] into our design criteria, or for other communities to do the same thing, then it warrants taking a closer look.”

To learn more about Missouri Livable Streets and how to become involved with your own community, visit http://livablestreets.missouri.edu.

Get Your Bike On This May!

Each May communities across the country mark National Bike Month, a celebration of cycling and its many benefits sponsored by League of American Bicyclists. From Florissant to Columbia, to Kansas City to Springfield, communities across Missouri are gearing up their two-wheelers for a month full of festivities including Bike to Work Week Bike to Work Week (May 12-16) and Bike to Work Day (May 16).

While bicycling in Missouri has increased dramatically since 2000, Missouri ranks 30^th as a Bicycle Friendly State and only 7 Missouri communities are recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as Bicycle Friendly, meaning they provide safe, encouraging environments for cycling.

This leaves a lot of room for improvement but don’t let that jam your bike chain. The good news is with a strong presence of bike/ped enthusiasts and growing momentum of Missouri’s Livable Streets efforts, more communities are on their way to becoming not just bicycle friendly, but friendly for all forms of transportation and their users. For example, Ashland,Mo., along with 6 other Missouri communities were recently announced as recipients of Livable Streets trainings and technical assistance.

Livable improvements like bicycle lanes, smooth pavement, and shared-use trails can make a big difference by reducing traffic demands and creating more connected healthier communities whether you travel by bicycle, foot, or wheelchair.

Want your community to get livable and be more bicycle friendly? Learn about the ways you can help at http://livablestreets.missouri.edu/.

Get tools and ideas for celebrating Bike Month from the League of American Cyclists here then head on over to Facebook to follow our cycling celebrations and tell us how you’re celebrating Bike Month.  

Using the walkability audit as a policy tool: Spotlight on Unionville, Mo

.

How walkable or bikeable is your neighborhood? Hear from community advocates in Unionville, Mo., who are conducting a walkability audit with residents to better raise the issues of policy change with local leaders.

Sincere thanks to Chrissy, Ericka and Jeanie for their time and insights!

Rural communities get livable: Spotlight on Warsaw, Mo

Missouri Livable Streets was pleased to learn about the great work going on in Warsaw, Missouri. While Warsaw is a community on the lake, many people are unaware of how much of a hidden gem it is for biking, walking and enjoying the outdoors. 

In this short video, learn how a handful of community advocates and leaders have been collaborating to make their town a more livable, vibrant community and tourist destination.

Sincere thanks to Irv, Mac, Melissa and Randy for their time and insights!

Rural Missouri on track to create more livable streets

Creating more vibrant streets and neighborhoods isn't a concern for just urban and suburban towns in Missouri. Located in northern Missouri, Unionville is a small town of approximately 2,000 residents, and local advocates are also concerned about health and wellness of residents. In this new video from Missouri Livable Streets, hear from local residents and their reasons why complete streets policies make sense for them.

Missouri Talks Getting Livable

More Missouri communities are talking about why complete streets or livable streets makes sense for them. Hear from citizens from a mix of communities about why these policies and approaches make sense for them.
Watch video

Livable Streets can be beautiful streets: A conversation with John Regenbogen, executive director of Scenic Missouri

Community and bike/ped advocates often ask their planning and municipal leaders for improvements like bicycle lanes. Yet many advocates may not realize that it’s just as important to ask for trees and greenery, too. John Regenbogen, executive director of Scenic Missouri, recently raised this important but often undervalued issue with the Livable Streets team.

Part of Scenic America, Scenic Missouri has been working since the 1990s on enhancing the aesthetic look of towns, communities and the state. From creating scenic byways to reducing billboard signage, Scenic Missouri has been leading the charge to keep the Show-Me state beautiful and more enjoyable for citizens and tourists.  “We have a variety of ways we work with communities,” Regenbogen says, citing his organization’s work with communities who want to regulate cell phone towers to helping them develop community tree ordinances.

And while the economic downturn has affected many families and communities, there are still reasons to celebrate. Recalling earlier years of limited vision or commitment to improving the state’s aesthetics, he says, “People do like to bicycle and they do like to walk. Communities have been applying for transportation grants. There is a thirst for that from communities that hasn’t necessarily been public.”

To prove his point, Regenbogen describes a great example in the South Grand area of St. Louis. As part of the Great Streets Initiative, South Grand is a busy neighborhood in South St. Louis near Tower Grove Park. Four lanes of traffic cut through a business area of restaurants, shops and residences. When planners decided to make the area more livable by putting the road on a “road diet,” some were wary. The road diet would mean shaving inches off of the traffic lanes in order to widen sidewalks and create bicycle lanes.

Photo credit: Grand South Grand. Details at: SouthGrand.org

“They put in some cement concrete barriers to give a feel for what the bow-abouts might look like, the reduced lanes; and [planners] were thinking this would show some negative results,” says Regenbogen, “and [they] were pleased to see it was quite effective. [The road diet] slowed down traffic speed, ER vehicles could respond alright, and people were very responsive to that. It’s nice to say that those concrete barriers have been taken out and we’re beginning those infrastructure changes of narrowing the roads and widening the sidewalks.”

But the road diet alone isn’t what’s just making South Grand a gem for businesses and local residents. It’s going to be the greenery. Regenbogen says that one of the key elements is greening the district with trees and other shrubbery. “For St. Louis summers, street trees can do a wonderful job of reducing the temperature. They reduce storm water runoff, and trees play that additional green role in the Livable Streets movement. It’s an emerging area now, [and there are] emerging data showing the value of urban trees in New York City.”

Moreover Regenbogen points out that all of these improvements come back to the local town and community. “People are starting to understand that when you can attract people to a destination, that it is attracting economic activity. Well-designed public spaces, including the streets, are important for that. That helps anchor commercial districts, and a lot of that is key in the execution. You don’t want an urban forest where you can’t see store fronts or addresses. Or have trees that aren’t drought tolerant. People are really starting to recognize that in community improvement districts. Business associations are thirsting for ways of attracting people. [Making roads] amenable to cars, that’s not necessarily the best ways to maximize their incomes.”

And if increased economic viability weren’t reason enough, Regenbogen also highlights new research that suggests more livable communities also create more attached communities, where people want to live, work, play and worship for years to come.  “We’re seeing the link to economic growth and greater attachment,” he says. And as time goes by, “that research will be more and more compelling and more concrete.”

To learn more about Scenic Missouri, visit http://scenicmo.org/.