What Does It Take to Make These Changes?

a blunt conversation with a city official

by: Trevor Kupfer

    When we asked Public Works Director Brian Amundson what it would take for our radical design of South Barstow Street to go through, he was reminded of a story. His wife was setting up software for a veterinary clinic near Phoenix. The business placed a sign out on the street to entice people in, and officials from the county highway department came in to tell them why they must remove it. As they were having the conversation, a parrot in the lobby picked up on a repeated phrase. “You can’t do that,” it mocked and repeated. The story reminds Amundson of the pratfalls of seeking approval from committees, councils, boards, hearings, appeals, and the general public.

    “We have to be much more open-minded instead of automatically saying ‘You can’t do that,’ ” he said. “You can do it; it just takes more work and it’s different.”

GUTS

    Believe it or not, the 1968 plans for Barstow Street included a plaza, a portion of the street closed off for a pedestrian mall. When V1 asked Amundson why it never came to fruition, he said, “Being very blunt, they probably didn’t have enough guts.”

    Part of the problem involves finding courageous leaders willing to think outside of the box and stand up for their ideas. Amundson cited the decision to close off First Avenue from West Grand to Madison Street, making way for a space designated for pedestrians. When this happened in the early 90s, businesses owners and drivers in the neighborhood caused quite the controversy, but it ultimately went through and is now very popular.

EDUCATION

    Educating the public is an important aspect of the process, especially when talking about something out of the norm.

    “You have to get what I call ‘informed consent,’ ” Amundson said. “You don’t need 100 percent consensus, because you’re never going to get it. What you need is people to understand why you’re doing this, what the goal is, what you’re trying to accomplish – and you’re going to upset some people in the process, somebody’s not going to like it.”

    That’s what happened a few years back when the YMCA suggested expansion and closure of Graham Avenue in front on their building, Amundson said.

    “As soon as people are engaged to say ‘No way, no how’ our country is built around the concept that they have more power than the 80 percent that want something to happen. Not unlike the jail right now. Never underestimate the 20 percent,” he added.

LISTENING

    When the city planned the redesign of Water Street, they asked business owners and area residents what the most important aspects were for the reconstruction.

    “I assumed the aesthetics of it was important to them, but it wasn’t. The most important to them was street parking, the 13,000 cars per day that go through there, and the biggest was not screwing it up like every other project by being late,” Amundson said. “They were also a little concerned about pedestrians and lights – so we put in the bump-outs and crosswalks and changed from four lanes to three – but mostly it was getting done on time.”

    This example is representative of an important part of the process for all street projects.

    “I’ve learned long ago that you won’t know what the deal breakers are until you truly engage the public in a dialogue for what it is,” Amundson continued. “And you have to address what’s most important to them; you don’t have to do exactly what they say, just address their concerns.”

OPEN MIND

    Anytime you’re dealing with a proposal that is different, the natural first reaction is to be against it. But with education hopefully comes a general understanding and mostly open minds, and only a few die-hard status quo folks.

    “If you’d asked me these questions 15 years ago I would have given totally different answers,” Amundson said. “I’d have to say our profession has been slow to accept a lot of this stuff,” meaning things like woonerfs, mental speed bumps, on-street features for pedestrians, et al. “Because it’s human stuff, not engineering. You’re talking about manipulating the human being and how they live and cohabitate.”