Your city likely has a "comprehensive plan"--a long document detailing hopeful initiatives and goals for your local community. These documents are crafted by a very small number of people, which means if there's something you want in there that isn't, you have the power to change that, and then take real action to make your vision happen.
If you know what is in your city's comprehensive plan, then you can propose new initiatives and point out where they line up with the plan, making it harder for people to say "no". After all, they already committed to this plan!
The city of Appleton, for example, has a comprehensive plan through 2030. Recently, a single person was able to get approval to install a monument to survivors of sexual assault, and in her pitch included specific ways and citations for how her monument aligned with the comprehensive plan.
I hope to understand the current state of the walkability initiative laid out in Appleton's comprehensive plan by attending council meetings in the coming year.
If you're looking for something local to do for your fox valley community, check out your city's comprehensive plan, and ask yourself:
- What are the three MOST important initiatives in this plan, to me?
- What is ONE thing I have the time and capacity to do that aligns with those initiatives? It can be as large as running for community council, or as small as sending an email.
Moving here from Michigan I am shocked at how bold pedestrians are. Obviously, it is the car's responsibility to drive safely. But I've seen so many people crossing the road here in situations where I would never see them do so in Michigan. I also think cars are strangely too polite here (fox cities area) in a way that actually turns dangerous. People stop inside roundabouts or stop to let someone cross outside a crosswalk without realizing the person in the next lane can't see them at all.
I wonder if this is a result of a cohort learning to drive with fewer people on the road and streets (2020-2021). Or if something else is going on.