Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Streetsblog USA

The Key Human Factors That Can Lead Any City to Transform Its Streets

tc_cycle_of_change
Graphic via TransitCenter
false

How did Portland get to be a national model for sustainable transportation and walkable development? Yes, Mayor Neil Goldschmidt stopped the Mount Hood Freeway from being built in 1974 and began negotiations that eventually led to the implementation of the urban growth boundary. But Goldschmidt didn’t do it alone.

Grassroots activists from a group called Sensible Transportation Options for People (STOP) -- which included Goldschmidt’s chief of staff when he was city commissioner -- helped him get elected and formed the ideas and policy proposals that the mayor embraced. Goldschmidt, in turn, appointed reformers to key posts in his administration

Look at other cities that are moving beyond the 20th Century legacy of cars-first planning, and odds are you'll come across a similar story of grassroots activism merging with political power. In a new report, "A People's History of Recent Urban Transportation Innovation," TransitCenter’s Shin-pei Tsay tells those stories in six cities.

The Portland story is exceptional in that the state of Oregon worked with the city in the 1970s as a close partner on land use and transportation policy, helping to build the region's light rail system. But even without state cooperation, cities around the country are showing the way toward a more multi-modal, less car-dependent future. And as in Portland, this progress can be traced to the links between advocates and government.

Take a more recent example: New York’s street transformations under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. When people think of changes like the pedestrianization of Times Square and the construction of protected bike lanes, they think of Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan -- and for good reason. But these leaders also had the benefit of a deep and increasingly sophisticated advocacy scene, exemplified by Transportation Alternatives, with its roots stretching back to the early 1970s -- as well as groups like the Tri-State Transportation Campaign and the Regional Plan Association (and new arrivals like, ahem, Streetsblog).

At NYC DOT, Sadik-Khan drew from the ranks of the city's advocacy organizations, appointing people like Jon Orcutt, former executive director of TA and Tri-State, and Andy Wiley-Schwartz, formerly of Project for Public Spaces, to leadership positions. The new directive from the top also energized agency staff, mobilizing the talent that DOT already had at its disposal.

That, in a nutshell, is what TransitCenter calls the "cycle of innovation," as illustrated above. The ideas of grassroots advocates inspire a bold mayor and transportation agency head, who create a sense of purpose and urgency that shakes up agency culture, bringing plans from vision to reality in a short timeframe. By quickly delivering tangible results, innovators in government show the public what it means to move the city away from car-centric design and toward streets where people can gather in public and get around without driving.

Tsay shows how various cities have employed this strategy -- both old cities like New York, Pittsburgh, and Chicago, with walkable street grids, and newer cities like Charlotte, Portland, and Denver that grew on an automobile-based model.

And that’s what makes the pattern of change described by TransitCenter so exciting. While the existing built environment can create conditions that are more or less favorable for transforming streets, in the end you can make change happen anywhere. It's the human factors that are actually decisive.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

SGV Connect 136: Here Comes the Olympics

What to the Olympics hold for the San Gabriel Valley in 2028? Damien talks with Alissa Walker, co-host of the L.A. Podcast and editor of Torched.

May 30, 2025

Friday’s Headlines

Quick! Write your legislators to support quick build!

May 30, 2025

Streets for All and KidSafe SF Merge

Streets For All is merging with KidSafe SF to expand the reach of both organizations, accelerate progress on reducing traffic deaths, and increase sustainable transportation options for all Californians

May 29, 2025

AIDS/LifeCycle Kicks Off Its Last Ride This Sunday

After 31 years, one of California's most iconic fundraisers and experiences will come to an end.

May 29, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines

Cameras, cameras, everywhere!

May 29, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Bike Guides to Build Your City

Bill Schultheiss on AASHTO and NACTO bike lane design guides, the importance of history, political will and the stress of being an expert witness in court.

May 29, 2025
See all posts