From neighborhood commercial districts in large cities to rural downtowns, streets play a vital role in animating the social and economic life of communities and improving the quality of life for residents and visitors. Despite this significant role, many Main Streets Stakeholders lack the “language skills” to collaboratively manage transportation issues, promote quality streetscape design, and support equitable access. In this fun, chatty, and informative session,
Project for Public Spaces and
National Main Street Center will launch a new toolkit aimed specifically at breaking down the unexpected language barriers among Main Street Managers, Transportation Officials, and Community Advocates in a way that works for everyone. By offering a common language, practitioners (street designers, traffic and parking engineers, transit professionals, etc) and Main Street communities might engage better with one another. The “Main Street Transportation Toolkit” is a multi-part tool that combines the Main Street Approach and the Placemaking Process to help Main Street leaders, transportation professionals, local officials, community advocates, and everyone in between: (1) increase their understanding of streets and transportation impacts; (2) learn how to balance the needs of mobility and other street activities; and (3) ultimately build stronger relationships with each other and the community.
A transportation official (speaking Transport-ese), a community advocate (who only speaks Advo-kaans), and a Main Street manager (who speaks Mainstreet-ian) walked into a bar. They didn’t understand each other so they stopped talking. The end.
