All Neighborhoods Need a Slow Street
The morning light awakens you from your slumber. You slowly roll out of bed. The first sound you hear is the hum of car traffic outside your home. You don’t know the neighbor next door who has lived there as long as you can remember. In fact, you barely know anyone on your street. You may venture out in your car at some point or if you’re brave enough, on a bike or your own two feet. Throughout the day, cars stream through your neighborhood- some speeding, some honking and all making noise. The quiet electric vehicle revolution is here, they say, but that’s not what you hear on your street and even if EVs become more dominant, they won’t travel slower or fill up your street less.
Imagine a different day. The first sound you hear is birds chirping outside your window. You go outside into your neighborhood where traveling cars are noticeably absent. The few moving cars travel at slow speeds, eliminating nearly any danger to you and the others walking, biking and scooting in the street. Yes, you’re in the street without a car and it’s safe any time of day! You chat with neighbors that you know well after meeting them when barricades were placed at intersections on your street. In the past couple of months, you’ve witnessed things on your street that you never thought possible- kids biking and running around, displays of beautiful art, live music and people smiling everywhere (well…
