If you want to join a social network, just ask Traverse City resident
Gary Howe. He'll tell you the region's real social network can only be created if you design streets, sidewalks and bike trails that allow members of the community to interact in ways that keep people physically interconnected.
Howe has some pretty big ideas for improving Traverse City. He wants leaders and residents to think about what kind of places are being created with our "built environment" and understand more clearly how that environment shapes relationships, economy and mobility choices.
Also, he thinks the area needs to be more safe, convenient and comfortable for people to move about under their own power.
"It's beyond silly that we have reached the point where able-bodied people drive a half mile to buy a gallon of milk," Howe says. "We need to build a complete sidewalk network, provide bike lanes, cycle tracks and trails. We also need to invest in transit and provide incentives to attract more walkable land use patterns."
A little more than a year ago, Howe launched a blog,
MyWheelsAreTurning.com. It was created in the spirit of sharing ideas and stories, to advocate and organize for livable interconnected streets and communities, and to celebrate community and active transportation.
Howe, a photojournalist and an instructor in the social science department at NMC, lived in China, Taiwan and Australia for more than six years and has been back several times since returning to live in Michigan in 2002.
"It wasn't simply the bike culture that was instructive from that experience, but rather the use of public space as a place that is valued as an intricate part of daily life. For many people in China, the first thing you do in the morning is open the front door and participate in public life," he says.
Howe also advocates for an investment in the current network of streets, and would like to see retrofitting be done on them so motorists are more aware and engaged with their surroundings while driving.
Howe believes cycling will be core to the transportation infrastructure in Michigan, despite our car culture mentality.
"What's perhaps most important to me concerning our historical relationship with the automobile is that we begin to realize that even when we use our cars, we are also people that walk, we can walk further than we think and that by walking more we will improve the quality of our personal lives as well as the community," he says. " Everyone hates motorized traffic when it's in front of their homes, but then that seems to be forgotten when we get in our cars and drive through someone else's neighborhood."
One city effort toward that issue is the
Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program, which allows residents to become involved in controlling traffic flow that has a direct impact on their daily lives. Howe has been critical of this particular program, but serves on a subcommittee of the city's planning commission that is charged with drafting the transportation elements for Traverse City's Master Plan.
"The proposed Boardman Lake Avenue is a current issue that has my attention, but Division Street is another issue currently on the radar and is just as important as investing in our neighborhood parks," Howe says. "The fundamental question is what kind of place do we want to build, and for me, how can we build places that help people connect? If we could turn Traverse City's main corridors into places that didn't repel people, we'd have a different community," he says.
Traverse City Commissioner Jim Carruthers is familiar with Howe's blog and agrees that traffic flow and pedestrian accessibility is a priority. He says regardless of what happens with the proposed Boardman Lake Avenue, he is hopeful that the pedestrian trail will happen.
"The road will cost over $6 million, so do we or should we spend that kind of money on a road that may or may not benefit citizens, when we have other roads that need work?" says Carruthers.
Two bills directing the Michigan Department of Transportation to adopt a
Complete Streets policy became law in 2010. This legislation encourages cities to include a plan for bicyclists and pedestrians when renovating streets, including sidewalks, bike lanes and crosswalks. To date, more than 30 Michigan cities have adopted Complete Street policies. Traverse City has not, although it is mentioned in its infrastructure policy.
Howe was recently a facilitator at a successful introductory discussion on Complete Streets, hosted by the Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation Trails (TART). He summed up on MyWheelsAreTurning.com that the community is extremely interested in this process and wants to be involved in the decision-making process.
"Our streets are too important to leave solely to engineers. When it comes to public space, the community is an expert," Howe says.
Howe says the goal is for MyWheelsAreTurning.com to evolve into a host for a wide community of perspectives based on and supportive of the core principle of intentional and inclusive design of our public spaces.
"I'm providing the initial energy that I trust will ignite others to be engaged," he says.
Heidi Rehak Lovy is a freelance writer and communications consultant based in Traverse City. Contact her via email.