I wanted to have more to report when updating on our pedestrian safety campaign but things are pretty slow going so I am going to go ahead and give the breathless masses the skinny.
<<< I got married to this image after my original post. I am thinking of adopting this as my alter-ego for the duration of the campaign. Would going to meetings in full costume be too much?
I was able to meet last week with David Woosley, the head of the
Lawrence Traffic Safety Commision. Mr. Woosely was incredibly helpful in giving me some very clear direction in the Now What/What Next department. I spoke at length with a traffic officer at the Lawrence Police Dept today and will meet again with a community liaison sometime in the coming weeks, then it will be back to the city commission. The lags are a bit frustrating but the city and the LPD have been WONDERFUL in helping me get in touch with the right person, set up meetings etc.
Thank you so much for all of your continued interest and active support!
<<< I got married to this image after my original post. I am thinking of adopting this as my alter-ego for the duration of the campaign. Would going to meetings in full costume be too much?
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I must say I'm awfully proud of you. A lot of people (myself included) just sit around complaining about a problem--but you...you go out and actually try to solve the problem. Love it! And I hope to enjoy the fruits of your efforts one day when my family gets to move back to the city of our love!!! I dream of a day of going downtown and enjoying a day of shopping without having one or more near death experiences thanks to oblivious & reckless drivers!
ReplyDeleteHey there. Kiva and I just returned from Seoul recently. I have to say...I actually felt like Lawrence was ultra safe for pedestrians after watching scooters and cars use the sidewalks in Korea. Yep, they would even beep their horns for you to move out of the way. Even Bangladesh seemed like a safe walking paradise after Korea. But standards should always be raised...and they obviously have much better pedestrian areas in Europe in other parts of the US...so why not in Lawrence? We should be the pinnacle, dammit!
ReplyDeleteWelcome home! I have a friend who lived in Seoul for a year that told me the exact same thing. I had been telling him that Rome had overwhelmed me in that way and he assured it was totally tame compared to Seoul. It is funny how some people use the fact that it is worse somewhere else to be an excuse of sorts for accepting what we have, while others say we should be the pinnacle, dammit!
ReplyDeleteMy neighborhood is having this very strange and public email debate about traffic through our streets. It is incredibly odd to me how entitled people feel to drive and drive quickly. When people feel the "rights" of the driver are at risk they become impassioned but not so much on the right to walk safely. Can this just be explained by us being a car-centric country OR is it the fear of a police state? Everyone has gone a little Socialist-phobic lately...