As we are in the throws of adopting PlaniTulsa I thought I'd throw out this logical viewpoint from a peer city leader. I think PlaniTulsa points us in this direction. Not sure our current Mayor or any of our fearless Councilors would speak such heresy. But it's good to see other 'similar' cities talking such stuff - maybe someday we'll get it too.
http://www.streetsblog.org/2010/02/26/mayor-of-fort-worth-autocentric-design-a-mistake/
Mayor of Fort Worth: Autocentric Design "A Mistake"
The theme of today's post from the Streetsblog Network is mayors who talk sense. First, at Fort Worthology, Kevin Buchanan files a report on what Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief had to say in his State of the City address:
Mayor Mike Moncrief of Fort Worth: "Friends, we cannot continue to focus solely on building more roads for more vehicles."
- ne of the items he discussed was the city's transportation and planning. The mayor stated in no uncertain terms that Fort Worth is facing severe transportation challenges, that they stem from too many years of car-first planning, and that Fort Worth can no longer be designed and built in a car-centric fashion -- topics certainly familiar to Fort Worthology readers:
"Commuter rail, streetcars and other alternative modes of transportation also remain a priority for me and this City Council. Unfortunately, Fort Worth and other major metropolitan areas are finding out the hard way what a mistake it was to design and build cities around automobiles years ago. Friends, we cannot continue to focus solely on building more roads for more vehicles. That's counterproductive at best. Business as usual is dead! North Texas requires a transportation overhaul. No more Band-Aids, no more patches -- a complete overhaul!"
That's pretty strong talk coming from the mayor of a major city in Texas. Mayor Moncrief's words come on the heels of the Fort Worth City Council's unanimous approval of the sweeping Bike Fort Worth plan, which will add hundreds of miles of cycling infrastructure to the city's streets.
Then, from Car Less Ohio, we hear that the mayor of Columbus, Ohio, has his own plans to boost active transportation:
In the annual State of the City address last night, Mayor Michael Coleman said he is determined to make Columbus "Bike City USA." To help get there, the city will set aside $6 million from its capital budget to connect the Alum Creek Trail to the city's bikeway system and build an additional 24 miles of bike paths and bike lanes on city streets.
Do we see a trend here?
I'm really surprised that statement came from any place in Texas. They, like Oklahomans, love their cars. It's nice to see the paradigm beginning to shift, and with any luck, the masses in Tulsa will catch on within the next couple of years and get something done regarding transportation. I think PlaniTulsa is a great start--it revealed a strong desire for a transportation overhaul--now, we just need to get it done!