“If you don’t want to lose your children… build walkable town centers.”
That’s a quote from traffic engineer Sam Schwartz, who was the headliner for a Reconnect Rochester lecture on transforming the transportation network in Rochester. Sam’s nickname is “Gridlock Sam” because he’s credited for coining the term “gridlock.” I like to call him “Transportation Bono,” because in my circles he’s revered for advocating for streets that are made for people (and not just cars) at a time when the country was deconstructing communities to make room for faster traffic.
His quote about losing your children refers to the shift in the Millennial generation away from driving and toward living in walkable places. If you want your kids to grow up and stay or come back to your town, give your kids things to walk/bike to and alternative ways to get there so they don’t have to always rely on a car.
But when I first read that quote, I immediately said:
“Right on, Sam. Because all this high speed traffic is killing pedestrians. It’s making it impossible for our kids to have independence.”
Clearly, I missed his point. But I carried that around with me for a week before his lecture when I realized he was referring to our children moving away, not being killed by cars (in or out of them).
In the nation’s quest to move more traffic through our streets faster, our kids have lost the ability to move around.
Biking behind School #1
Not all kids. If you are lucky enough to live in one of the few truly walkable places in our country, your kids can walk and bike to things with their friends. But a recent study shows that only 14% of neighborhoods in the US “manage to be at once affordably priced, walkable, and near decent schools.” 14%?! Holy terrible crappiness, Batman.So the vast majority of parents are left to choose between good schools or walkability. As a parent who wants both, this leaves me fired up!
The independence of our kids has been forsaken for sprawl and speeding traffic. We can’t send our kids off to adulthood after driving them around everywhere and expect them to know how to magically navigate bus systems, cities and campuses. Letting them roam in safe, age-appropriate ways with you, their friends or alone is an important step in their development. Giving our kids things to walk/bike/take mass transit to and the safe infrastructures to do so are vital to nurturing them to become independent adults.
Why aren’t more people angry and talking about this? Why aren’t more parents participating in Active Transportation Plans, future vision planning and public input sessions for proposed development? We, as citizens, have a say. We, as parents, should stand up for our kids’ ability to move around independently and for our childrens’ health. Imagine the impact we could have on obesity if we just made our communities more walkable!
Parents: I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Did you have to choose between a walkable neighborhood, safe schools and/or affordable housing?
(You know my thoughts already. We live in one of the most walkable neighborhoods in the area, but speeding traffic is a constant and frightening undercurrent ruling our lives and safety.)
Wondering what you can do in your own neighborhood? Visit the Streets for the People Resources Page for a list of Active Transportation Plans in the region, as well as resources on traffic calming, crash statistics, etc. Drop me a line or leave a comment and I’d be happy to help you connect with people in your community striving to make our neighborhood streets safer for all.
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