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AARP Livable Communities
Over the last decade, localities across the Unite States have set forth to “complete the streets,” that is, make them work better for all users and forms of mobility. The National Complete Streets Coalition, housed within nonprofit Smart Growth America, provides local government officials and community leaders the information, tools, resources and implementation programs needed to put Complete Streets policies in place.
The National Complete Streets Coalition believes “the streets of our cities and towns are an important part of the livability of our communities. They ought to be for everyone, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker or wheelchair user, bus rider or shopkeeper. But too many of our streets are designed only for speeding cars, or worse, creeping traffic jams.”
Complete Streets policies are new laws, ordinances and executive orders that enable states, cities, and towns, and their planners and engineers to build road networks that “are safer, more livable, and welcoming to everyone,” according to the Coalition’s website (completestreets.org).
This case study, prepared by the Education & Outreach group at AARP, shares the story of several successful implementations of Complete Streets policies. The advocates and approaches all differed, yet each group succeeded. To that end, this case study also shares the lessons learned along the way.
The Road Ahead: Implementing Complete Streets Policies
CASE STUDY Prepared by: AARP Livable Communities Washington, DC Fall 2013 aarp.org/livable
Learn how advocates encouraged several communities and states to successfully implement Complete Streets policies – making their streets safer for cars, transit users, bikes and pedestrians
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Complete Streets Initiatives
There are many reasons that communities adopt Complete Streets policies. The examples of different advocacy approaches shared here all succeeded because the key partners identified the messages and information that spoke to leaders and stakeholders in their community. For some, it was about health and obesity. For others, safety, bicycling and children. Still others focused on mobility, business development, and growth.
In almost all cases, the motivation behind advocating for Complete Streets policies was the same: let’s improve our own community for the betterment of all.
The advocates that come together in pursuit of that goal should succeed in getting Complete Streets policies implemented. That’s because it is hard for local officials to argue with Complete Streets policies that are designed to enable communities to re-‐prioritize infrastructure investments toward focusing on moving people, and not just cars.
Let’s take a closer look at three advocacy efforts, and the lessons learned.
“Once a Complete Streets policy is adopted, essentially a whole new effort must begin in order to bring it into daily practice. Too often, it doesn’t happen.”
-‐-‐ Barbara McCann Founder, National Complete Streets Coalition
National AARP and State Offices
For over 50 years the national AARP organization has advocated on behalf of citizens age 50 and older. The AARP offices in the States and Territories have focused most often on local legislation and issues. In recent years, these local offices have begun taking a more active role in the communities they serve, often convening a wide range of government, nonprofit, corporate and citizen groups to impact life for older adults. It is in this role that state offices of AARP began supporting Complete Streets initiatives and policies.
AARP believes it is important that organizations and local community leaders come together to make communities more “livable” for all ages. To facilitate that, AARP is now actively supporting Livable Community efforts with a new online resource at aarp.org/livable.
The website is designed so local government officials and community leaders can learn, plan and take action on Livable Community initiatives.
Not a safe route to school. Source: FLICKR
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Case in Point: Indiana
Engaging Local Government and Community
In August of 2012, the Marion City-‐County (metropolitan Indianapolis) Council unanimously adopted a package of Complete Streets policies for the region, which the mayor signed into law. Indianapolis joined 124 other communities in 2012 that put in place laws, regulations, resolutions, and polices to change how streets are planned, designed and built. With Indianapolis on board, now more than one-‐third of the state population lives in communities with Complete Street policies on the books. This accomplish-‐ment was more than three years in the making.
In June 2009, a local nonprofit coalition called Health By Design decided to bring in a national expert on Complete Streets and organized a community workshop. Health By Design (HBD) focuses on how to “create built environments that foster healthy living.” HBD solicited support from a wide range of partners, including the state office of AARP, who sponsored the workshop. Marion City-‐County Councilor Maggie Lewis participated in the event and left with a commitment to support Complete Streets programs.
Starting in early 2010, HBD and AARP Indiana launched the Indiana Complete Streets Campaign, a formal advocacy effort to get the region to adopt Complete Streets legislation. With over 75 organizations and 250 individuals engaged, the first action step was to conduct walkability assessments across the state. These on-‐the-‐street audits, typically with 20-‐30 volunteers, were
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done at over 60 locations over the next year or so. The focus of the audits was to assess key roadways, streets and intersections for sidewalks, crosswalks, signage, bike lanes and the like.
Zia Brucaya, Coordinator, Indiana Complete Streets Coalition, said “Walk-‐ability surveys also provide excellent opportunities to engage political leaders and media, because they involve a large group of stake-‐holders and have ready-‐made visuals – and potential controversy.”
The audit participants would debrief AARP Indiana and HBD staff after each outing, and the Indiana Complete Streets Campaign ultimately presented a summary of findings to the City-‐County Council and the Department of Pubic Works.
June Lyle, state director for AARP said, “Thanks to the top-‐down interest and involvement from Maggie Lewis, the Councilor and now Council President, and the grassroots involvement of 75 organizations and hundred of citizens, the effort succeeded in getting Complete
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Streets policies in place.”
A key factor, too, was the role of the Department of Public Works, who became engaged early in the process and worked hard to make the mechanics of such policies workable. Lyle said, “Having input and guidance from those inside the local government from an operational perspective really helped as we tried to create new rules and regulations at the policy level.”
Now that the policies are law, the Indiana Complete Streets Coalition has shifted focus and is advocating for implementation of the Complete Streets policies across the region. They see their role as encouraging, informing, tracking and celebrating efforts. They also serve as a watchdog to make sure policies are followed on any new projects.
In early 2013, the Indianapolis region was recognized by the national Complete Streets Coalition for having the “best” program in the United States.
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Case in Point: Hawaii
From Statewide to Street Level
The state of Hawaii was an early adopter of a statewide Complete Streets law, which was passed in May 2009. Early advocates used the fact that Hawaii is the nation’s most dangerous place for people over 60 years old in terms of traffic accidents and pedestrians. The new law created a multi-‐disciplinary Complete Streets task force to review design standards and propose changes in procedures and design manuals for the Hawaii Department of Transportation (DOT).
However, the story since that early success suggests that relying on the law and a government-‐mandated task force does not automatically translate into action and results. For example, in Hawaii, like most states, the state DOT is only responsible for major roadways, not local streets. Plus, having new legislation on the books helps mostly with new projects; it doesn’t require existing “incomplete” streets to be completed.
Realizing this, the AARP Hawaii office and others began advocating for Complete Street policies – and projects – on the regional and local government level. According to Jackie Boland, Associate state director for AARP Hawaii, “We began by getting the state to enact a law that enables the counties to come up with their own Complete Streets policies. That allowed us to partner with other interested groups to get real progress on the local level.”
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One such group was “Get Fit Kauai,” a public health initiative in Kauai County. With key stakeholders like the mayor, Kauai County became the first local government to pass a Complete Streets resolution that created new design standards and performance measures.
The Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization and the county and city of Honolulu also adopted and
implemented local Complete Streets policies. This effort was advocated and supported by AARP Hawaii with key support from Wayne Yoshioka, the former head of the Department of Transportation Services, and Breene Harimoto, the city council transport-‐ation chair. Yoshioka is credited with co-‐writing the bill and then, important-‐ly, spending the next six months shepherding it through the department. Harimoto helped bring in outside
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experts to raise awareness of the needs and benefits of Complete Streets and encouraged key stakeholders to participate in walk audits to experience Honolulu’s less-‐than-‐complete-‐streets first hand.
“Having support from Wayne and Breene is what made the initiative a success,” said Jackie Boland of AARP Hawaii. “There are processes in place in which new Complete Streets policies must fit, so having insider information and guidance navigating through all of that was invaluable.”
Another successful tactic deployed in Honolulu was a mock-‐up of a Complete Street. Linda Schatz, a local architect and wife of U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, organized a task force and worked diligently to bring this living example to life. “Linda’s brainstorm to bring a Complete Street to life was a thousand times better than even a picture. Stakeholders could experience life on a Complete Street. It really energized our efforts,” said Boland, of AARP Hawaii.
By moving from a statewide platform for Complete Streets down to local street-‐level implementation, Hawaii is well on the way to transforming mobility in the island state.
There are existing processes in which Complete Street policies must fit. Having insider support makes all the difference.
Drawing public attention to the need
Bringing a Complete Street to life, even temporarily, makes a big difference. This is the Hele on Kakaako event from Hawaii.
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Washington State Goes a Different Route:
A Faster Way to Slower Speeds
A new law in Washington State helps local communities make neighborhood streets safer by reducing regulations and red tape.
Before, if a city or town wanted to reduce the speed limit to 20 miles per hour on a neighborhood street, Washington state law required them to conduct an engineering and traffic study. Such a step costs communities thousands of dollars and slows down projects. In late summer 2013, the state legislature passed the Neighborhood Safe Streets Bill, which provides cities and towns the flexibility to set lower maximum speed limits without doing a study first.
Blake Trask, Statewide Policy Director at the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, says the new law provides for more local control and reduces regulation. Under the new law, cities and towns can create their own procedures and policies for lowering local speed limits, to help make their communities safer and more livable.
“Especially for the elderly and for children, speed is a big issue,” Trask said. “If you get hit by a car traveling at 20 miles per hour, your changes of survival are much higher than if you get hit at 40 miles per hour.” The law will also help neighborhoods calm local streets and reduce cut-‐through traffic between major roads.
A key lesson learned was that a broader coalition of supporters makes a real difference. At first, advocates had emphasized the legislation’s benefits for bicycling — local streets with lower
Blake Trask, Bicycle Alliance of Washington
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speed limits offer cyclists safer routes. But Trask and his colleagues realized that the bill was about much more than that.
Broadening messaging on the bill helped build a more powerful coalition of support that included health advocates, local government associations, and motorist groups. Over 30 cities, towns and organizations supported the efforts, including state chapters of AAA and AARP.
Trask said that helping local governments improve street safety has important implications for everybody’s safety — not just bicyclists. “It helps elderly people who want to age in place and want to get around safely, it helps walkers who don’t want to get hit by cars,” he noted.
“We can say that this is a bill that really appeals to most everyone,” Trask said. “I think in the bicycling community we often fail to recognize that our issues and the things we’re advocating for can cast a much wider net of support so long as we’re not focused only on the benefits to bikes.”
This approach does not require the up-‐front investment of a Complete Streets project, nor does it serve as a strict mandate. Instead, it puts the decision-‐making and control in the hands of the local communities.
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Case in Point: Vermont
A Weeklong Eye-‐Opening Blitz
AARP Vermont partnered in 2010 and 2011 with a diverse group of over 40 organizations from across the state to pass Complete Streets legislation that makes roads safer and more usable and accessible by all citizens. The coalition consisted of local and statewide agencies, organizations focused on health and wellness, bicycling, older adults and children. While each organization had its own focus and agenda, they all came together to support the Complete Streets movement in Vermont because they saw how their stakeholders would benefit.
The kick-‐off for the effort was Complete Streets Week, held in September 2010 in four Vermont communities: Burlington, St. Johnsbury, Rutland, and Brattleboro. Over the course of the week, volunteers and organizations teamed up with AARP Vermont to survey crosswalks and intersections in the four communities. These in-‐person audits were designed to assess how well these streets and intersections met the needs of cars, walkers, bicyclists and transit users.
In each community, AARP Vermont worked with local organizations to identify the areas and intersections to evaluate. The local organizations had specific areas and intersections in mind, ensuring that streets with issues would be evaluated. During the event, volunteers used checklists and materials available from the completestreets.org website, and debriefed coalition leaders after each audit.
Jennifer Wallace-‐Brodeur, of AARP Vermont, said, “By drawing media attention statewide and highlighting the specific places and ways that Vermont streets were not ‘complete,’ the event helped elevate the issue of Complete Streets to a legislative level. It became
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easy to see what needed to done and why.”
Wallace-‐Brodeur also said “Some of the recommended improvements involved little or no cost, and offered benefits to pedestrians of all ages.” By not making this about one age segment, or even type of mobility, the coalition members remained engaged even after the legislation passed. Many helped organize local projects to implement Complete Street policies on existing streets and intersections.
For example, Colchester Avenue in Burlington went through a “road diet” (shrinking the lanes for cars to better allow for bikes and pedestrians), which was presented to local leaders as a driver safety project, was supported by a local biking organization and the Burlington Public Works.
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To help facilitate more widespread adoption of Complete Streets policies, the Vermont Department of Health’s “Fit and Healthy Vermonters” Program teamed with AARP Vermont, Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, Vermont Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development, Vermont Department of Transportation, and Vermont League of Cities and Towns to publish a 40-‐page Vermont-‐specific Complete Streets implementation guidebook.
http://bit.ly/complete-‐streets-‐VT
“We wanted to help local government officials, planners and community leaders be able to quickly see how to implement Complete Streets policies,” said AARP’s Wallace-‐Brodeur. “We also knew that examples from Vermont would resonate with them,” she added.
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Lessons Learned
In each of these states, different strategies and tactics worked to get Complete Street policies put in place and succeeded in raising awareness and making progress towards creating better places for everyone.
Other communities across the United States are achieving similar results from their efforts. The communities featured here wanted to share some key “lessons learned” from the process for those who are earlier in their efforts. Here are seven:
1. Use data to make the case and draw attention to the issue – conducting Complete Streets audits for multiple intersections and streets helps. Both the media and elected officials respond well to hard facts. The safety rating for people over 60 in Hawaii was the key statistic that enabled the effort to gain traction so easily.
2. Be specific. Generalities about implementing Complete Street policies will get some traction, but a specific action plan for specific “incomplete” streets works better. Pictures tell the story well, but physically visiting and auditing the street or intersection is better.
3. Build a coalition broader than your own focus. Complete Streets is about biking, walking, livability, aging in place, health, sustainability and children. The more organizations and groups involved, the more likely elected officials will take action. Be mindful, too, of the politics and reputations of various partner organizations.
4. Plan on being in for the long haul, but look for shorter term “wins” that demonstrate what it means for a community to have a complete street. The planning process for new streets and roadways is long; getting existing streets or intersections modified takes time, too. Be prepared for this to take months and years, not days and weeks. In addition, look for and celebrate any early successes to help maintain momentum.
5. Be prepared to adapt with the outcomes of elections and when appointed officials in key departments change. Important advocates could leave office or key positions, and impact your efforts. The reality of long-‐term initiatives like Complete Streets is that the people in charge do change. Make sure your effort can pivot as needed.
6. The goal is to change mind-‐sets among those who do traffic and road planning, so it helps to have an insider’s perspective and guidance. That’s why is it important to have “insiders” at key departments like transportation, public safety, public works, or volunteers who can help steer your effort through the bureaucracy.
7. Statewide or regional regulations need to be translated into specific actions for local decision-‐makers to embrace and implement. At the end of the day, everyone involved in Complete Streets policies wants to know “what’s in this for me, or my community?” Make sure that question is answered.
More information is available at aarp.org/livable.
Summary
The Complete Streets movement is working its way across the entire United States.
Communities embracing these policies are going to create more livable communities
for all of their citizens. Specific information on the latest programs is available at
completestreets.org.
Local government and community leaders can also access a full range of livable
community resources at aarp.org/livable.
601 E Street NW Washington, DC 20049