[00:00:12] Welcome, everybody. Transportation live Fridays.
[00:00:20] This is a special show that we are doing every Friday at noon to talk about transportation, sustainable transportation sponsored by Sustainable Transportation Vermont with some of Vermont's leading thinkers and doers in the field of sustainable transportation. I'm broadcasting live from my house in Hinesburg. And our special guest today on transportation. Is Kelly Stoddard Poor. Kelly is the associate director. Welcome, Kelly. Thank you, Richard. Kelly is associate director, associate state director of AARP. And we're going to talk about livable communities. Safe streets. Vermont's downtowns. Some of the work that AARP has been a leader in in this field. But first, Kelly, welcome and hope all is well with you and your household.
[00:01:26] Thank you, Richard. We're doing well. We're safe here in Montpelier. And I love to see all of the new things that are popping up along our streets in response to Colvert. So and I'll I'll talk a little bit more deeply about complete streets and then ways that we can think differently about how we're getting around in our downtowns and villages across the state.
[00:01:49] Yes. No. And books watching or listening or welcome to post comments. And we are going to talk for a little bit and show some slides about some of her work. And then we will take questions and comments and have a discussion. But before we do that, I just want to say it's Vermont. Oh, then variety of different things. And Kelly, I first knew you when you were working on tobacco control between Kelo and what you're going to talk about today.
[00:02:17] Doug? Good question, Richard. I know Vermont's a small place like that. So I first started doing working for the American Cancer Society, working on tobacco control, healthy, active living, and transitioned over to a therapy Vermont about seven years ago. And I lead our work on Livable Communities, which is steeply tied to public health, transportation, aging in place. But if we are able to support and create livable communities, then we can all live healthier, longer lives on. And I'll get a little bit more into some of those health benefits as I go through my slides.
[00:02:59] That's great. So let's turn right to that. So Kelly is going to walk us through her presentation and then we're going to take questions and comments and have a discussion. So thanks again, Kellyanne. Let's turn it over to you. Now to tell us about livable communities. Great. Thank you, Richard.
[00:03:16] All right. Hi, everyone. All right, so welcome.
[00:03:21] And I really just want to appreciate and think a sustainable transportation for inviting MRP to talk a little bit more about the work that we do on Livable Community. So AARP, whose mission is focused on supporting older adults to be able to have live high quality lives.
[00:03:38] And a big piece of living, a high quality life. It is being able to choose where you live and be able to age successfully and are livable communities. Work is really focused on how we can support active, healthy aging.
[00:03:55] So I'm going to go to the next slide. Many of you know the demographic trend that is happening across the country and particularly here in Vermont. This is census data from 2010. And the blue areas represent the population 65 and older.
[00:04:12] At over 21 percent. So you can see the blue areas, lots of green there. And then we'll shift to projected census data that will get for 2020. And you can see as our as the as the map darkens into a darker blue, more of our population is aging. In Vermont, where the second oldest state in the country and we need to think about how we're supporting older adults to continue to be engaged and active in their community.
[00:04:41] And a big part of that is how our communities are structured. Next slide, please.
[00:04:47] So what we know is that the large majority of us want to be able to age in place. I don't think that comes to any surprise to anybody is that you want to you want to be able to age in place in a place where you are connected to your friends, your neighbors and your community. But many of our housing, most of our housing stock is quite old and Vermont. A lot of it is inaccessible. Most of our house housing has been built for able bodied 35 year olds, and many of our housing is in locations that are not easily accessed accessible to services and amenities. Next slide, please.
[00:05:23] So about 80 percent of us, as I shared, want to be able to age in place.
[00:05:27] And but when we look around at our community is a lot of them have not been built or designed to be able to support that type of aging in place. A lot of our communities. Not all of them, of course, because we have a great fabric here in Vermont made up of our historic downtowns and our village centers. But we see the sprawl that's happening and the inaccessible access to our streets and our sidewalks make it more difficult to get to services, to amenities, to pub and to be able to engage in public life.
[00:06:01] Next slide. So the next few slides I'm going to go through pretty quickly.
[00:06:06] This is just a nice slide to show you how we're getting around in our communities. This is from national data. So the majority of us are still getting around by car. But what is growing is the increased interest in biking. Boomers are actually driving that that up significantly as they are going to biking more and more often.
[00:06:31] I like to tell the story of my my in-laws who live over in Pittsford, Vermont, and they recently purchased bikes and they're out biking every every week. And they're running errands on their bike that they never would have done before because of the access to an E bike. But looking at that, that that the the reliance on the personal vehicle and which is at 90 percent for millennials, 94 percent for boomers. And we need to think about how we're how we're getting people around and offering different mobility options for people beyond the use of their personal vehicle.
[00:07:07] Next slide.
[00:07:09] And where do we want to live? So it's kind of spread out all over the place. We're looking at millennials, Gen Xers, baby boomers and the silent generation.
[00:07:19] And rural small town continues in it is in the blue. And people there is a desire to be in rural small towns across the state.
[00:07:29] Go ahead. Next slide, please.
[00:07:32] And this slide here just shows what types of amenities people want in their community. They want to have access to a bus stop nearby. They want to be able to go to the grocery store and to a park that is in close proximity. Those are really important amenities. And people make those decisions when they're purchasing a house or they're looking to downsize from their from their existing home. And so when we think about what a community offers, we want to think of about those important amenities that draw people in. Next slide. And this is just a nice slide because I think we often put boomers and millennials in two different categories.
[00:08:11] And there's a lot of similarities between what boomers and millennials want. They want to be able to have access to restaurants, into dining, being able to go out, and they would trade off a smaller home for a shorter commute. And those were really two important points. And I don't think that those will change drastically, although we will have to think differently of how we engage in public life. As our economy starts to open back up during coalbed next slide. So why a livable community matters. It provides the network and the mobility that people need to be able to stay independent.
[00:08:49] It also breaks down barriers and reduces risk for isolation when people are able to engage in social, civic and economic life in their community. Next slide.
[00:09:03] So I'm going to get into a little bit more detail around complete streets, because when we think about the mobility, it it varies across it an individual's ability, where they're at in their life, resources that are available.
[00:09:16] But we know that people enjoy walking. And that is the most preferred mode after driving your own personal vehicle to getting around is that people want to be able to walk to places and appear back and to 2011, push forward on complete streets, legislation passing that statewide legislation supporting complete streets.
[00:09:39] And this is really about how we can increase mobility for people of all ages and all ability. Next slide.
[00:09:48] So complete streets is about looking at our roadways. It does not address, you know, the our highways.
[00:09:55] Eighty nine or ninety one. And it doesn't apply to dirt roads either, but applies to all other roads, roadways. And if they have new roads are being built or of a road goes under construction, the the roadway, the engineers that are involved need to consider all users of the road. And so that includes motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists and those who are using public transit as well. And so really thinking critically about how our roads serve all users. And that is the lifeline in our communities and through our downtowns and our villages, is to be able to provide that connectivity for people to get to places.
[00:10:35] Next slide, please.
[00:10:38] So just to, you know, the piece on complete streets and Richard had asked me earlier the connection between complete streets and public health. And there is complete streets provides that mobility for those who are no longer driving. One in five older adults over the age of 65 no longer drives. And it is really important that they stay connected to their community and are able to be able to get to places like doctor's appointments to go see a friend, to go to the pharmacy, to go the grocery store and complete streets allows that because it looks at different ways for people to be able to get around. It also addresses climate change as it helps to reduce individual use of motor vehicles land use. It supports compact development in our downtowns and village centers. And it supports public health in the way that it allows people to be able to engage in more healthy, active living by biking and walking places. And the economic vitality is really important.
[00:11:41] When we think about our downtowns and our villages and supporting the local economy and being bringing people there on foot, traffic is so critical to supporting our local economy.
[00:11:52] Next slide.
[00:11:55] So a couple of key pieces around complete streets, reducing speed is really important. So one of the things that I always hear from our members when we go out and do walk out, it's is that what is preventing people from walking places or biking places is that they feel unsafe. And that is because the street is not accommodating all users of the road. And speed is a big to turn for people to be able to go places. And that is across the age spectrum that applies to young children all the way up to older adults. If people are speeding and flying down roads, you don't feel safe walking and you certainly don't feel safe crossing the street. So ways that you can reduce speed on street parking is a great way in our downtowns. It's able to help slow down traffic.
[00:12:40] The more activity you have on the street and the cars are forced to go at a slower speed next.
[00:12:47] And I understand this reducing speed, that topic for a couple more slides. So narrowing a travel lanes. So a lot of our rural roads obviously can't accommodate a sidewalk at one. The maintenance and investment would be too expensive. So thinking about ways how you can really leverage the space and bring in those Phog lines and provide more safety along those those lanes and being able to reduce the travel lane for the car can also help reduce those speed limits as well.
[00:13:17] Next slide.
[00:13:19] And then going through the process of reducing the speed limit within your downtown or village center is also another great way to help get vehicles to slow down, because then that speed limit can then be enforced. And both were Burlington and Winooski have taken that approach of instituting a 25 mile per hour speed limit through their downtowns.
[00:13:38] Next slide.
[00:13:40] So some bike strategy is thinking about protected cycle tracks separating bicyclists from the ongoing traffic is really important. It provides a real sense of safety and it also provides more awareness for the motorists to be able to see the bicyclists and people that feel more protected. If there is any type of barrier between the bike lane and the and the the traffic on the road, next slide. Bulbouts are a great way to help also reduce speed and increase safety for crossing the road. We don't need signalized intersections at every intersection. But ways that we can draw attention to those who are crossing the street, bulbouts are a great way or are sometimes known as curb extensions, where it gives the the driver more visibility of the pedestrian when they're crossing the street because they're able to step out within that bulbout and the motors can see them when they're going to cross the street. It's a great way to also help narrow the roadway and during those through those intersections, helping to then also slow down traffic.
[00:14:51] Next slide.
[00:14:53] Right sizing the road sometimes, this is also called a road diet. Not my favorite terminology, but right sizing is very technical. So a lot of people don't necessarily know instantly what you're talking about. But many of you might be familiar with the project up in the new north end of Burlington, along north of where four lanes were taken and reduced down to accommodate all users of the roads.
[00:15:17] So better service for those who are using the bus. GMT running up and down North Ave corridor. Those who are walking and crossing the street and for a bike lane along north of as well. So taking those four lanes, reducing it down to one lane on each side and then having a turning lane it reduces accidents. It helps slow down traffic and provides and accommodates for more users of the road.
[00:15:46] Next slide, please.
[00:15:47] Public transit. Always think about how you can connect your road way to public transit and thinking really critically about these services, or I should say the amenities that are provided at bus stops, particularly bus stops that are frequented to thinking about making sure that there's a place for a bike rack If people need to, if they're biking there, make sure that the bus shelter is actually connected to a sidewalk so people can walk to the bus shelter. One of the things that we always hear from our members when we put out surveys about barriers of why or is it why is it difficult to ride the bus? And one of them is always about a shelter or having having a place to sit while you wait for the bus is really important. So we can't make all of those investments at all bus stop locations. But the ones that are really busy, it's really important that we make those investments.
[00:16:43] It makes riding the bus a lot safer and it also provides that comfort and appeal for people.
[00:16:52] Next slide, please. So these are just some slides just showing complete streets and action. You've got up in the top corner.
[00:17:01] That is Norwich into Hanover and the bike lane going across the bridge there. And then in the bottom left corner, you've got Jericho downtown putting in a sidewalk. And then over on the right, you've got a nice rural road that has instituted a nice shoulder with you using the fog line there.
[00:17:20] And that's out in Cornwall.
[00:17:23] All right. Next slide, please. So I just want to transition a little bit into the importance of public spaces and how we think about how our streets connect to and support public life. And that that is really important when we think about our streets as as public space. Right. It's actually our largest public good on and thinking about how we make our streets and all public spaces more accessible that comfortable. And we provide activity and the opportunity for socialization.
[00:17:58] And we'll have to think differently around our public spaces as we move into reopening up of all of public life and providing more space for people to be able to social distance.
[00:18:12] And that will be really critical. And we have to think about how we're using our streets to be the most valuable during during this crisis.
[00:18:21] And that will be there'll be a lot of new and interesting ways where we can reallocate underutilized to public spaces for people to be able to move around. Next slide, please.
[00:18:33] So getting people to build, to move around is really important. And as AARP had championed complete streets back in 2011, one of the things that we have found is, is that some people are nervous about instituting and investing in a complete streets projects. But ways that we can test that work and find opportunities for people to experience what complete streets is all about is a great chance for people to think differently about how we're using our streets.
[00:19:08] And the left hand pictures are over from Bethel when we did a demonstration project there several years ago, which are going to go into a little bit more detail about some simple solutions that can be taken to reimagine and repurpose our streets.
[00:19:22] Next slide, please.
[00:19:26] So for those are familiar with the concept of placemaking, it's about reinventing and reengaging public spaces so that people have a place to be able to connect and engage in civic and social and economic life. And there's so many public spaces that can be reimagined and reinvented to fulfill those purposes.
[00:19:49] Next slide, please.
[00:19:52] So I'm going to talk a little bit about some of the low cost things that you can do for high impact. Around placemaking.
[00:19:59] And so thinking about how you can reallocate the public space as our streets are known as public spaces for other purposes beyond driving. And these this is a picture here of a parklet. So repurposing a parking space to provide outdoor dining or spaces for people to sit and rest along the way.
[00:20:24] So next slide, please.
[00:20:27] So this is just I want to go quickly through this project that we did on Down Embattle Bethel, which was a damaged weekend long demonstration project. We had partnered up with the community there to reimagine how the street could be reactivated to help support economic, social and civic engagement.
[00:20:47] Next slide. And this is a video that will probably send the link out to later, because I think we're running out a little bit out of time, so we'll go ahead and skip that slide.
[00:21:00] So here you can see the way that we reinvasion the street here. So we took two lanes. We took parking off of one side of the lane. CAPTA on the other side, created a multi use lane on the left to there. We called it the Blue Lane because it was multi use and that anybody could go on it. And it provided it's really good for accessibility because for those who are using assisted mobility devices like a wheelchair or a walker or pushing a stroller, it's really difficult sometimes to navigate the ups and downs on the sidewalk and the cracks, particularly if you're pushing a walker. The cracks in between the sidewalks and the street is seamless. So we did that. We put a protected put protection in there for folks. And then we did some bulb outs, temporary bulb outs on the crosswalks and then did a parklet as well. And I've got a couple of other pitchers that go a little bit more into details, some of the changes we did. So there's a picture of the blue lane. We use temporary paint to put in straw wattles to provide the protection there.
[00:22:04] Next slide.
[00:22:06] And another great image we've got, we had some E bikes for people to be able to test out on.
[00:22:13] Which is always a really fun experience to see people getting back on a bike that they hadn't been on in several years.
[00:22:20] Next slide.
[00:22:22] And this is a picture of the parklet. So reallocating two parking spaces and doing and providing a pop up taco bar there, which they sold out of tacos the first and second day there, but it really stimulates economic activity as well. Next slide. And this was this might be a little hard to see, but we put in a temporary pedestrian island to help slow down some of the traffic we're getting. There's a lot of truck traffic coming in, a lot of logging trucks and getting those. And they're coming down on a on an incline. So getting them to slow down with that temporary pedestrian island was a great way to help people feel safer when they're crossing the street. Next slide.
[00:23:07] And then just those cross the bull bolts that we did with the straw wattles and some plantings. And then providing some more visual aid to the crosswalk themselves.
[00:23:17] Next slide.
[00:23:18] And providing a temporary shelter bus shelter for four people who were using stagecoach that the local transit provider there in Bethel. People people really valued that. The bench was already there. And we just put temporary covering over that next day. Next slide, please. And just some of the direct outcomes. We reduce speed limits over this demonstration project pretty drastically. They were at about 27, which wasn't too high. But getting them down to 15 made a real big difference in a small village center. Next slide. This shows the the decibels. So it was really quite loud with a lot of the traffic. And that was up at 80. And then through the weekend, we tested it multiple times. It was down at 40, which is the quiet library. So it really you can think about how much more enjoyable it is to be out on the sidewalk. Whether or not you're dining or you're shopping or you're just sitting along, taking a rest on it becomes a much more inviting place. Next slide. And just to you know, this work is really important and engaging and involving the community from the very beginning is so critical to all of this work because they're the ones who know what's best in their community. And it's all about really maximizing the existing assets that are in a community and making sure that you involve the community throughout the process is really important.
[00:24:43] Next slide.
[00:24:47] And keep the momentum going. You know, sometimes change can take a long time to get started.
[00:24:53] But just building on it is really important and getting community feedback along the way helps you continue to grow your your work and your projects. Next slide, please. And I just think that this is really important, that we continue to challenge outdated beliefs, spark new solutions so that more people can choose how they live and how they age. And that transforming society is the work of all of us.
[00:25:16] And we have a lot of work to do. So next slide.
[00:25:21] Thank you very much for the opportunity to join to join you today, Richard Kelly.
[00:25:27] That was fabulous. Really, really, really substantive and interesting and did actually have a case example.
[00:25:34] That story study really brings it home. And it makes me think of a couple of things. One, a lot of our towns and villages, which in some ways we're really talking about here, how we can make those communities walkable, make the streets safer for all users.
[00:25:52] As you've said, but often there's state roads that run through them. In the case of Bethel, did you have to get special permission? Is that a state road? Do you remember any of that part of it?
[00:26:01] Great question. No, it's a really important question, and I should have brought that up earlier. But sometimes you write it up. Is that in some cases, the downtowns or the villages have jurisdiction over the state highway that runs through their town, which it makes it so much easier for them to be able to test these types of things out because they have local control over the state highway. And in the case of Bethel, they had that. So it was really it made things much easier. Vitrines was actually extremely helpful during the process. They came out with their spray rig and helped us paint the temporary multi use lane instead of us, you know, rolling it with a with a paint roller. They came out with their strieber and did that for us. So they're extremely helpful in the process. But you're allowed to do much more when the town has that has the has the jurisdiction over the state highway and be trans, has a white paper out that sort of walks towns through the process of taking over the state highway that runs through their village or down town center.
[00:27:06] That's great, because then in the past, you know, we're in a new area with people who are thinking much more, as you say, differently about all these things. But there used to be one of the big challenges is that some of these seem odd to people who have built a career about building roads that are really designed for cars and to move cars safely and to move cars safely.
[00:27:26] You need wide streets, straight streets. And, you know, for example, in the town I live in, in Hinds Burg, there's been some debate about painting a crosswalk. And because it is a state highway 116, we had to get permission and approval.
[00:27:40] And so I'm glad to hear you're thinking that some of those challenges may be going away.
[00:27:47] I think so. And I particularly think as as as we think about how we get around in our community.
[00:27:53] And that's changing as we age, Ray, as well. And different desires that people have, they want to be able to. People love walking and most people want to be able to walk more, but they don't feel safe doing it. And so finding ways that we can make our streets more accessible and more inviting and comfortable for people to get around in different ways is so important in it. It really it helps stimulate the local economy, too. And I think Chris Cole always said that, like, cars don't buy things people do. So we need people to get out of their cars and, you know, visit our downtowns and our religious centers and they need safe ways to do that.
[00:28:36] So this is sustainable transportation, Vermont sponsored transportation like Fridays, and people are welcome to post questions or comments. And it's really cool because John Kaplin, who actually works at the Agency of Transportation, has written us, you know, pointing out that there is going to be guidance from B trans on how more communities may be able to do just the kind of demonstration project you just showcased us in Bethel. And one of the things that really struck me about that project is how inexpensive. I mean, yes, there's probably lots of time and planning and thinking that went into it. But in the end of the day, you're talking about paint.
[00:29:12] And in your case, because you were testing the ball low ball bounce, but you weren't actually building them hay bales.
[00:29:19] You said, you see, some of these solutions are another one that you mentioned about taking the fog line that's on the side of a rural road and just making sure, possibly bringing it in a little so that the travel lane is nine feet, maybe you said. And then that gives a little more space on on that on that road side for the bike or the locker.
[00:29:42] Yes, that's right. There's some really simple solutions. Ones that don't cost a lot of money. I think when we're thinking about big, you know, municipal planning grants that could, you know, completely change the streetscape of the downtown.
[00:29:56] You know, rightfully, some community members get nervous. And so being able to test things out and pilot them first and get community feedback is really important to be able to, I think, make a project successful.
[00:30:10] And as you said, Richard, some of these some of these elements can be really affordable. And a lot of times you might not get it right the first time, but you can improve upon it and build upon it and make it better and bring the community along through that process is so important.
[00:30:28] And I also want to underscore what you said about design. You know, for a long time, we thought you could put posted speed limit and make people drive slower. But the roads we know are designed to send a signal to the driver that certain speeds are safe.
[00:30:43] And so in some places in this world, they're actually taking away some of the signs because it makes the drivers more cautious just automatically. And so this whole idea of designing a road that's a little narrower or more sidewalk or bike path or little bull belts.
[00:31:00] What we call them.
[00:31:01] You know, all of that just sends a signal to the car to drive slower, which makes it a more pleasant experience for that person sitting on the bench or walking on the sidewalk.
[00:31:11] Absolutely. Or crossing the street to buy a cell. Absolutely. If we could design our roads and get them to to get drivers to slow down, that that's a huge win.
[00:31:23] So one other thing I've been thinking about, it's been coming up a little bit in these talks is that we're in this amazing moment and people are working from home much more than they ever did.
[00:31:35] And not only people, but employers are finding it worse, their employees. You see anything in this in this moment around telecommuting or work from home? It relates to all this that you're talking about.
[00:31:50] Yeah, well, I think that there's a lot of opportunity to think about how our streets and other public spaces could be repurposed as our economy is starting to open back up and providing space for outside dining, for shopping, for public life, where people can safely, socially distance. And I think parklet are a great way to provide that extra space for that business. And so repurposing one parking space to help the economy and to help bring back public life, I think is a great way. And, you know, there's during this crisis, like we want to do more than just survive it. Right. And we want to find those opportunities. And I know that when I've been out everyday walking and biking, I see more and more people in my community walking and biking. And I think they'll just be a more increased desire for people to get around like that.
[00:32:54] What do you think is the single year?
[00:32:57] Again, a lot of your work, it feels like it's about showing how it can be done and working with communities to partner with them. But from a state point of view, what public policy? What are the public policy? As you said, complete streets was one that you really pushed for. But what public policies are there that the state of Vermont could really implement to move livable community initiatives?
[00:33:19] Yeah. That's a great question. I am so obviously complete streets. We've been working with Department of Housing and Community Development to support a new program called Better Places, which would which would be a crowd funding program to help support local projects to get up and going. And that would be a public private partnership. And so that that's a that's an initiative that we've been supporting. And then the trans is going through the process of updating the state standards, which also will help provide better guidance for road design and opportunities for towns to implement different design features. So those are some of the larger sort of policy pieces. And I think, you know, also the health in all policies that we have already in place in Vermont is also another really important piece where we think about the public health impact that all of our policies have whenever questions pointed out that were these part of what we're talking about is enabling people to live in places where we're living closer together.
[00:34:26] Mm hmm. And yet, at the same time, I'm reading in the real estate what's happening potentially as people from urban areas with resources are looking at moving to places like Vermont, but out into rural country settings.
[00:34:42] You think about what what might we be doing in this moment?
[00:34:48] Yeah, that's a that's a big one.
[00:34:51] You know, the housing the housing piece is a really important component to this and thinking about land use. Right. And the connection between transportation and our housing. And we do need more housing and we need a variety of housing types. So I think for towns, it's an opportunity to update their zoning and to allow for more housing, a variety of housing types that could be in the walkable downtown or village center radius. You know, I'm not trying to dodge your question, Richard, around the real estate piece, because people have the choice to move out to a rural setting if they want to. But I think if we can provide a variety of housing options on some of those other Hoppes housing options will be more appealing. And just one other policy that we've been prioritizing, too, over the last few years is the ability for homeowners to build, to assess re dwelling units, either converting their, you know, their single family home to do an internal conversion of an 82 or allowing for the 80 you to go in their backyard. We have state legislation for that. But some local ordinance that makes it easier is another good policy.
[00:36:08] So that would allow more density in our downtown.
[00:36:12] Yes. And not changing the character of neighborhoods either. Right.
[00:36:15] Riot like the addition of it, 80, you would provide slightly more density, but it doesn't change that overall character or feel of a neighborhood when you have either the 80 you being the converted internal conversion or the addition of that in the backyard. So but it provides more housing and provides opportunity for home sharing.
[00:36:38] Lots of lots of opportunities with eightieths.
[00:36:41] Do you think about minimum parking standards at all?
[00:36:45] Yeah. That's an important piece.
[00:36:48] And I think the parking one is always controversial, right? And we we encountered this when we were working with the city of Burlington and our partners over at Homeshare pushing forward for an update on the edu ordinance in Burlington and was to remove the parking minimum requirement for the ADA use. So there's some a lot of the parking requirements are just become a hindrance for any type of development. So thinking more thoughtfully about that. And I know Department of Housing and Community Development is going to be coming out with some updated zoning guidelines and parking will be addressed in that. So some, you know, incremental approaches that communities can take to be able to support housing and more walkable, livable communities.
[00:37:41] You've mentioned at least three different state agencies installation.
[00:37:47] Do you think we do a better job in Vermont? Do we do a decent job in Vermont communicating across those agencies when all these policies seem to have. No related impacts.
[00:37:58] I do. I think we do a really good job, I think that our state agencies are open to collaborating. They talk to one another and I work on it. You know, there's a number of different work groups that I'm part of. And a number of state agencies are around the table. And I think we all have the, you know, the similar goal in mind and just coming at it from slightly different angles.
[00:38:23] We have one question from somebody and Bruce from southern Vermont. I think he is about. Have you seen any of this where we read elsewhere street closings to allow people to run, you know, to sort of show, I guess, illustrate what it could be like?
[00:38:38] Absolutely. And I like to call it street openings because we're opening up the street for people. And so because they feel like closing sounds negative, but we are seeing cities and towns across the country do this. And I think there's a lot of opportunity to think about how we can open up our streets for more healthy, active living. For people to build, to walk and bike safely is just an excellent, excellent idea. And you can try it out. You could try it out over a weekend, see how it goes, and then try it out longer and then, you know, get it to become more permanent. And, you know, Church Street is a great example of, you know, a street that opened up to public life.
[00:39:19] So, yeah, if you this might be other blue for you.
[00:39:23] But as you look around Vermont, you mentioned some examples. Do you see other places, other towns and villages in Vermont that are doing some interesting, innovative things or highlight a couple that you.
[00:39:33] No doubt. I mean, yeah, sure. So I'd love to do a shout out for Brattleboro.
[00:39:39] Oui, oui. They're doing a lot of great work, Donna Bravo. And they have been building upon it year after year to increase pedestrian and bike safety. You know, they've got two, two state routes that come through their downtown arms. They've done a lot of a lot of things to enhance safety, comfort and appeal for people who wanting to walk and bike. But last year, we provided a small mini grant to the downtown organization. And Stephanie Bonin led a really great project there to activate the alleyway between their transit center and the the the shops and restaurants next door. That was not a very inviting place for people, but yet was so important for people to be able to pass through if they're are parking in the garage or catching a bus somewhere. And they just did some really fun interactive placemaking pieces there and they're just in their building on it. And, you know, trying to make it more permanent. And I just there's there's some really great energy down there. And a lot of artists that have been involved in the process making it a really creative peace and reflective of the community itself. So.
[00:40:58] Yeah. Do you. And where's the best place? Maybe you said this earlier. If a town or village wants to kind of learn from each other seeing great examples, where would you go?
[00:41:08] That's a good question, Richard. Where all of that wood that lives? You know, that is probably one thing that all of our like MRP included and our partners around the table probably haven't done the best job of making a one stop place to see everything. But I would say most likely it would be the Department of Housing and Community Development. We're looking at the downtown village designation. There's a lot of great resources on there. And also just this new this new effort that we're trying to get passed through the legislature better places. That also has got some great examples of some good placemaking work that's happening across the state. So I would probably say that's probably where the best examples you can find there.
[00:41:59] Well, thank you. We've been in touch with people from that office about coming and giving a presentation here from the downtown. I forget its official title is the place where we designate downtowns and.
[00:42:09] Really? Yeah.
[00:42:12] The richer tomorrow may be a city.
[00:42:14] Yes. Richard, it's great. He's great. And he can he's got some great images to show and to really inspire people. Richard and Gary over there are they're fantastic.
[00:42:24] So tell me anything else. AARP is doing all we can. We should know about or support your work in some way here at Sustainable Transportation Vermont. Sure.
[00:42:34] I would just like to put a little plug in that we launched a program called Community Connections during the height of the shutdown through Cobbett. And this is really about addressing some of the social isolation that a lot of our older adults are facing across the country. But it's a great local resource as well. So you can go on to AARP dot org slash coronavirus and you'll see a link for community connections. And there's just a great it's a great resource to be able to connect with loved ones or folks are looking to connect with their mutual aid group in their community. Being able to have a friendly phone call if people are feeling isolated and lonely. And I just I know that's a little off topic from sustainable transportation. But when we think about people's mobility and current circumstances have really reduced our mobility and making sure that people stay connected in other ways and we can be able to reduce social isolation during all of this.
[00:43:37] So thank you for saying that. I'll never forget once I worked for the U.S. Census, my job was to go around, knock on doors in Vermont. It was just such a reminder of what we know. Numbers wise, it's just a lot of people living alone who are lonely. Yeah.
[00:43:54] Yeah. And aren't leaving their home. Right. And so making sure that, you know, if you have a neighbor or a loved one that needs to like just wants to have a friendly phone call with somebody or chat online with a group.
[00:44:09] There's lots of different connections that the community connections can make for four individuals to feel and feel connected again.
[00:44:19] Kelly, thank you. Thank you, Richard.
[00:44:21] Reon is going to pop up here and tell folks what's next. And then we will post that link that somebody already did post the link to the. Connection. So, Brianna, tell us what's going to be next week.
[00:44:39] I think it's related to a whole different topic. Brianna, jump in and say something if you'd like.
[00:44:49] Hello, everyone. Next week, our speaker is going to be Brian Collier and he's going to be talking about mowing lawns and how the simple thing of not knowing your lawn can be really effective for the environment. So tune in next Friday. Well, June 5th. And we hope to see you there.
[00:45:11] Thanks again, Kelly.