Creating safe spaces for better transportation connectivity
By Della Lowe
Photo Credit: Southern Utah Bicycle Alliance
I heard a rabbi say recently, âIn community we heal.â He was speaking about healing from the pandemic with the added burden of dealing with the riots in cities across the country. As households separate more and more politically, religiously, and socially, new ideas are emerging about how to regain a better sense of community, of oneness. Some might call this nostalgia for the future.
Did you have a front porch as a kid? Did you ride your bike to a friendâs house? Could you walk or bike to the store, the church, and your doctor? But, as suburbs grew and urban sprawl became more common, as the shopping mall and big-box stores appeared, did that sense of community disappear? Unless you were raised on a large farm or ranch, the answer to these questions was probably âyes.â
As cities grow, the pull and tug between what was and what can be creates stress. There are those who think about preserving what is good from the past while looking to the future. One of those organizations is Transportation for America, which published a report titled The Congestion Con. It states, âIn an expensive effort to curb congestion in urban regions, we have overwhelmingly prioritized one strategy: we have spent decades and hundreds of billions of dollars widening and building new highways. ⦠Yet this strategy has utterly failed to âsolveâ congestion.â Ideas to address this issue are circulating in Washington County, Utah, and its largest metropolitan area, St. George. City and county leaders and residents have come together in innovative ways to âgo backâ without going backwards. But what does it mean toâ go backâ?