Dear Pike/Pine neighbors,
What do you get when you combine 30 markers, a pile of giant Post-It Notes, and two dozen community members inside a Cal Anderson community room on a 90 degree Tuesday afternoon? What we found was lively conversation, thoughtful sharing of perspectives, and the ability to find common ground about the future of the streets that we all know and love.
Thank you to those who made their way to Destination Pike’s first public meeting. Some of you came in excited about the possibilities of what Destination Pike could be while others came in with real and well-earned questions about what it means for your business, your parking, and your deliveries. We are grateful that you all brought the perspectives that this project needs and that you all showed an earnest commitment to making the connections that are essential to any community project.
At the core of Tuesday’s meeting was the participatory work of building consensus. We broke into small groups and gave each one a hard task: write a single problem statement about the streets of Pike/Pine that everyone in the group could actually sign their name to. This isn’t easy, but each group did it anyway. Once these statements were made, we scrambled the groups again and asked them to discuss and then jot down brainstormed solutions to see how we could tackle these problems from different perspectives. Below are some examples.
Here is one group’s statement: “the current sidewalks (in poor condition) are being asked to do too much in too little space because there’s a desire to use a finite space that results in bottlenecks and accessibility issues.”
Solutions thrown out ranged from designated scooter zones and bike corrals to widened sidewalks modeled on Melrose, reimagining the middle turn lane, and better handling of tree roots buckling the pavement.
Another group focused on the issue of delivery vehicles not having designated spaces. Businesses need them, but current street loading designs can cause issues for pedestrians and bikers. Brainstorms included priority loading zones and designated delivery windows.
A third group pointed at timing: the street has different needs at different times of day and week (a pass-through for cars, a destination for businesses and bars, a place to store cars) and accommodating all of those at once means none of them work well. Potential responses focused on temporal reallocation, asking the street to change throughout each day instead of being asked to be everything at all times.
A fourth group focused on the basics of walking down the block: uneven sidewalks, poor lighting, trash, and a fifth group focused on how it can be hard to navigate and move through the neighborhood.
This meeting wasn’t meant to produce one final answer, but rather it was meant to provide a space where we can all speak directly to each other about the same streets. This is key for the conversations that will be coming in the future.
Tell us your thoughts!
Didn’t make it to the meeting? Came, but you left the room with more to say? Send us a reply or fill out the survey below. We want to be guided by the needs and visions of the neighborhood and you are a key part of making that possible.
Want to help us host events?
We have more events planned and we’d love your help in keeping this energy moving. Send us an email to get more involved! We’re planning for our next event to be at Art Walk on Thursday August 13th.
We need help!
All of what we are doing is volunteer-led and run. Do you have something you want to contribute to Destination Pike? Reach out here!
Stay connected
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