e-newsletter header
July 2014
In This Issue
July 23 Sidewalk Forum
8th best + 8th worst = reality
Speaking up for policy reform
Town Hall meetings: July 1 - 16
July 23 Sidewalk Maintenance Forum
Please join us on July 23 to learn how you can help get Atlanta to fix broken sidewalks. 

Weds, July 23
 
6:30 - 8:00 PM
First Presbyterian Church
Sally Flocks will update you on the state of Atlanta's sidewalk maintenance program, innovative funding solutions other cities have implemented and opportunities for policy reform here.

Todd Fulk, an expert on low-cost ways to eliminate tripping hazards, will tell us how other cities are making their sidewalks safer places to walk.

Many Atlanta City Council members want the City to use public funds to pay for sidewalk repairs. With your help, we can enable them to take action. Join us to learn how.
Metro Atlanta: 8th most walkable -- and 8th most dangerous 
In May, Dangerous by Design 2014, a new report by Smart Growth America, ranked metro Atlanta as the 8th most dangerous large metro area in the country for pedestrians.
Foot Traffic Ahead report
A few weeks later, Foot Traffic Ahead, a report by the same organization, ranked the region as the country's 8th most walkable.  What's going on?

Metro Atlanta developers are investing heavily in walkable urban places. Buckhead, Decatur, Midtown and Poncey-Highland are just a few examples. The more walkable a place becomes, the more its economy will thrive.

Elsewhere, more and more transit-dependent pedestrians are walking on roads that were designed for cars only.

As pedestrian advocates, we focus on both the good and the bad. With help from you and others, we work to make good places great. We also encourage transportation professionals to install safety improvements that make other areas less deadly to people on foot.
Speaking up for sidewalk policy reform
On June 24, the Atlanta Journal Constitution published an op-ed by Sally FlAJC op-ed - Sidewalk repair policy bustedocks that calls on Atlanta's elected officials to take a more holistic approach to policy reform.

The same morning, Sally Flocks and Peggy Berg presented recommendations on policy and funding reform to the City Council's Utilities Committee.
Sally and Peggy both chaired subcommittees of the City Council's Sidewalk Task Force.
The presentations were well-received, with council members asking thoughtful questions and requesting more information. Like PEDS, many City Council members recognize it's time to move on from a policy that does not work.

Thanks again to all of you who contacted Atlanta City Council members or spoke up at NPU meetings to oppose the ordinance that would have increased sidewalk repair fees by 164 percent. Public opposition, reinforced by the presentations to the Utilities Committee, make it very unlikely council members will approve the proposed fee increases. Your voice makes a difference.
Upcoming Town Hall meetings: Make your voices heard!
The City of Atlanta continues to seek public input on what types of projects you'd like funded by the proposed infrastructure bond referendum. Meetings are scheduled for:

July 1, 6-8 PM 
 
John C. Birdine Recreation Center, 215 Lakewood Way
megaphone 
July 8, 6-8 PM 
City Hall (Old Council Chambers, 68 Mitchell Street

July 15, 6-8 PM
Drew Elementary School, 301 East Lake Blvd.

July 16, 6-8 PM
Meals on Wheels, Northside Activity Center
1705 Commerce Drive 
 
Please ask Atlanta to make sidewalk repairs a funding priority.
Your voice matters.
  

 

  
  Matching Gift Opportunity

Help make metro Atlanta a great place to walk by signing up to give monthly.

Your gift will do more than ever. An anonymous donor will match the yearly value of each monthly gift up to $5,000 -- dollar for dollar.

Please act now!                                   
  
404-685-8722
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