Big ideas

I’m not one to casually throw out motivational quotes. But at the Smart Growth Summit in downtown Baton Rouge Wednesday, Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology said something I thought applied well to the many movers and shakers in the room (not to mention, y’know, to life in general). To paraphrase, “Great ideas, unlike fine wine, don’t get better with age sitting up on a shelf.”

This was said around the time he finished zipping through a series of data-heavy slides detailing how the true affordability of a home must take into account transportation costs, which have quickly become the second largest expense for families. And those costs vary from neighborhood to neighborhood based on, among other things, the efficiency of local infrastructure (roads, public transit, etc.). The Housing + Transportation Affordability Index is an interesting (and increasingly necessary) way to measure housing costs, and one that many cities are starting to adopt.

I heard a lot of great ideas during the three-day conference. But even more, I heard a lot about the problems we’ll face in Louisiana and nationwide if we don’t implement those ideas.

To save you from the doomsday scenarios, I’ll instead point out a cool idea Center for Planning Excellence (organizers of the summit), Mid City Redevelopment Alliance, the Mayor’s Office and others announced Tuesday. To drum up support for potentially turning Government Street into a more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly corridor, these groups are teaming up with the Better Block project to temporarily transform a few blocks into the “complete street” model.

For a weekend next spring, the blocks in front of Westmoreland Shopping Center will be converted to two lanes with makeshift landscaping, temporary bike lanes, crosswalks and pop-up storefronts along the street (instead of behind vast parking lots). Basically, a smart growth wonderland.

The project is just in the planning stages now, but like all great ideas, sometimes people need a visual before they can get behind it.

Above is a shot from a similar Better Block project in Kansas City, Mo., in October, where locals constructed temporary crosswalks, pop-up shops, green space and more. Check out more images here.