Bottom-Up Shorts: How To Make a More Walkable City
How do you turn three people with snow shovels into an initiative that gets covered on the news, triggers a city-funded pilot program, and inspires people to stay in the city long-term? That’s what Andrew Neidhardt and Dustin Moore of Walkable Albany, a Local Conversation in New York, are here to explain.
-
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 0:00
Norm. Hi there. This is norm with strong towns and welcome to bottom up shorts. Each week, we love to share stories of individuals that are taking action in their community in order to inspire change and actually be a part of bringing about the things that we need to see happen in our communities, those small and slowly perceptible changes that truly begin to add up over time in order to create healthy, safe, livable, walkable and inviting communities. With me today are Andrew Neidhart and Dustin Moore of walkable Albany, a strong towns local conversation that has been newly established as a local conversation, but as you'll hear in the discussion walkable Albany has been at this for some time, building a consensus within the community that the things that we need to see changed actually are very achievable and very beneficial to folks in the community. And so with that, Andrew and Dustin perhaps one of you to start off. Can you describe the shovel brigade and perhaps how that is emblematic of the types of changes that we can actually bring about in our communities?
Andrew Neidhardt 1:09
Sure, I'll start. So the shovel brigade is basically a group of volunteers part of walkable Albany that tried to make sure that crosswalks are clear so people can get where they need to go after it snows in Albany, we get quite a bit of snow every winter, and we noticed back some years ago that when we get especially big snow storms, the plows come through to clean up all of the sort of edges around the curbs, and they end up putting a big amount of snow right in front of the side Where the Sidewalk Ends, and when you try to cross the street at the time we started doing this, my oldest daughter was going to daycare in a stroller every day, and it was just impossible to get anywhere with a stroller. And that meant It's also impossible for elderly folks who can't step over a big snow mound other children who were walking folks in wheelchairs. So we just, we decided to meet up with some other people and take matters into our own hands. So we, we meet up after it snows on an ad hoc basis. We, you know, put out the call. The shovel brigade is being called up. We need all our volunteers to come show up. We meet here in our neighborhood, and we just go around shoveling bus stops, fire hydrants, crosswalks, things like that, that so that we can make sure that our neighborhood is safe.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 2:29
And oneof the local businesses was pretty enthused about this, and even was offering some refreshments, you know, share a little bit about that and sort of the impact that that had.
Dustin Moore 2:37
Yeah, I think, I mean, we've been we've had local news cover us a bit. We've had our local Common Council member from the city join us, and local businesses sometimes will meet us out they'll, they'll thank us for taking care of it. And yeah, we've had, we've had the local liquor store provide us with small bottles of liquor and but mostly we get a lot of thank yous, I think, which is, that's the thing we like to just be visible in the neighborhood and show people. You know that maybe the city is not going to take care of this, but we're going to take care of this because, because we care.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 3:12
So what comes to mind when you hear somebody say, "someone should"?
Andrew Neidhardt 3:17
Well, we're someone, right? So, I mean, that's really what it is is, you know, you think about it, before we started doing this, was like, Oh, this is an intractable problem. Every time it snows, it's just terrible to get around. And then you think a little bit harder, and you say, Well, wait a second, it's snow like we have. We can deal with snow. We can do something about this. And if we can get a few neighbors together, you know, it becomes a social activity. It's actually something that a lot of our members really look forward to, because it's just it's just like you hang out with some of your friends for a couple hours, and you walk around the neighborhood, you do a little shoveling, and you know that can be really hard when it's a big snowstorm, but it's a lot of fun. I mean, honestly, it's been a great community builder for our members too, to have something to look forward to, but it's just something really tangible, really easy to solve, that you can just do with a little bit of muscle power, if you, if you're willing to put some time in.
Dustin Moore 4:04
Yeah, I've gotten to know quite a few of our neighbors that would that way. And it's been, it's been really positive, and I might not have met them otherwise, if I didn't see them at the we meet up on a specific street corner and and, you know, we'll pair off, and we'll say, two people take that part of the crosswalk, two people take over there, you know, and we cover all of the all the end of the street, which is nice.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 4:25
And what stands out to me, too, is that there's a tendency, I think sometimes our local conversation groups have engaged in trash cleanups, or the group in Charlotte that make sure to sweep bike lanes where the if it's a protected bike lane, sometimes you'll get trash and litter that just begins to sort of litter those areas, and especially if there's construction waste, there can be stuff that's blowing tires and doing all of that sort of stuff. And at times, groups will come along and say, Well, we do that too. But I think one of the things I appreciate with our local conversations groups is that there's a recognition that this is part of a bigger sort of. Process of assuming ownership of our common spaces and doing those types of things. Can you touch on how this is consistent with, like, a big goal of making your community walkable and livable and safe, and how these very, in a sense, small, sort of targeted actions are really a key part of that?
Andrew Neidhardt 5:18
Sure. Yeah. I mean, I would start by just saying, you know, winter's long in Albany, and so, you know, you can't be a walkable community for for, you know, eight months of the year if you're going to be a place where people can walk to work, that really needs to be throughout the whole year. And so, you know, we view this as part of the general ability to live the way that we do, which is by being able to walk places and get places safely. You know, it also is a big factor for young families that want to come and live in our walkable neighborhoods. You know, if they have a really hard time getting to school and daycare there, that's one more thing that's going to push them to the suburbs and to live in a place where the car is the center of their life. So, you know, I would say that we really view it as part of the whole picture of what we want our neighborhood to look like, and community building is part of that making this a place where you do see your neighbors when you go out, I will say, I see a lot more of my neighbors in the summer, because people in Albany tend to sit on their stoops and hang out and while the kids play and you get to know each other, there's a lot less of that in the winter, because if it's 10 degrees out, you're probably not hanging out on your stoop. Your stoop. And so creating social opportunities to come together as a community in the winter is especially important. So it serves that dual purpose.
Dustin Moore 6:30
And to piggyback off that. Like I live in a building with nine units, and there's, I think there's 19 people that live in our building, and my wife and our daughter very happy there. And sometimes, if it's a snow storm that's coming overnight, maybe the shovel brigade hasn't met up. But I know that on my block, my wife has to push the our daughter to daycare in the morning, so I'll go down and do the the crosswalks, at least on that path. And I've had neighbors ask me, What are you doing? Like, you know? Why? Why? You know, what you're not responsible for this. And I just say, Hey, I love where I live, and I'm just trying to make it a little easier for everyone. So it's been good.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 7:10
And all of that shoveling must be good for your physique and certainly help you to be, you know, strong and healthy. But I think I'd love to know more of, sort of, your own stories, and what it is that inspired you, not only to take up a shovel, but to form a brigade, and tied into that, to also maybe share a little bit more about walkable Albany and sort of who you were, that these things, of just getting people together, to do these types of things, has come, not necessarily naturally to you, but over time to you.
Andrew Neidhardt 7:38
Sure. Yeah, so I started walkable. Albany was in 2018 as a way to try to organize people who depend on walking as a way to get around. Basically just noting that my daily life where I was walking, you know, to daycare, school, drop offs, walking to work, grocery store, that I felt like there were some pretty easily solvable issues that we could work on with the city, if we could organize and get together and have a mission to do that together. So, you know, it started as a Facebook page where we said, you know, hey, we're having a meeting. I rented a reserved room at the library and said, Hey, anybody who wants to come. And it sort of just grew from there. You know, it's, it didn't take very much to start it, except a little bit of courage. And so it grew from there. The shovel brigade originally. Actually, it's kind of a funny story the way it started. There was a post on the Albany subreddit of a frustrated person whose name I don't remember, but we he said, We're gonna meet like, This is crazy. I'm tired of not being able to get around our neighborhood. Let's get together. Bring a shovel. Let's see who shows up. And so about three of us ended up showing up there, and we that was the first time we did this shovel brigade thing. We went around and did all the crosswalks. And at the end of it, I said, you know, I just started this, this group walkable. Albany, do you mind if I steal this idea, this idea shoveling? And he was like, yeah, no, totally, that's fine. And I honestly don't, I don't think that I've seen him again since that. But this, this random idea that came up, and I said, you know, that's one of the things I can do now that we have a group, you know, with some people who are actively coming and being part of a regular meeting schedule, things like that, that we can make this, this work, you know, we can build a mailing list. We can make it work with more volunteers. So it sort of grew from that.
Dustin Moore 9:24
I think my avenue into walkable Albany was first. I mean, my interest in urbanism actually came from strong towns and being introduced in strong towns through not just bikes on YouTube, but I think it was when our common counselor shared that she was going to attend the the shovel brigade, and had put out like, if anyone's interested, and I didn't know that it existed. And I think I'm fairly certain that was my way of finding walkable Albany. And I was all about the group. I really liked the mentality, and it was great to connect with other nations. Members who were interested in pursuing walkable development and better, better city wide policies for pedestrians and whatnot. So I was very happy to find them through that.
Andrew Neidhardt 10:12
And I'll just add, if I can, you know, getting the attention from city elected officials has been a big part of the success of the shovel brigade, because we really drew attention to this issue. And, you know, a year or two after we started doing it, we started to see the city put out an RFP for a pilot program for, could we maybe? Could the city be responsible for clearing some of these sidewalks? And so the city has done a lot more on this issue since we started doing it and posting on social media and showing the results and people see making it into something that is on the local TV. It's covered by the local newspaper, because the TV stations love this. You know what? Coming out with people shoveling? Thanks for a great TV. You know, so. But it drew attention to this issue of it. It's hard for people in our city to get around, and so the city has actually taken on more of it. They can't do everything, and neither can the solo brigade. But like every little bit counts.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 11:04
One, I think what it does as well is it demonstrates the what good looks like before that good is ever made sort of permanent or enshrined, or, you know, very large, sizable sort of investment has to be made. And I mean, we see this with bike lanes being added in sort of in gentle areas, making sure that they're protected in very subtle ways by people, just like putting up bollards or putting up some cones. That's maybe on the riskier side, but sometimes that can yield really good fruit, where the community takes it over and says, hey, we'll do that. We've seen that with benches at bus stops, where the as a consequence of benches being deployed, the later transit decision making is sort of following in that lane. We see this in all sorts of different ways. And I think there's something really powerful with that. And maybe for those that are listening, one of the things to remember too, especially if you're in the startup stage, is you will not feel crazy in suggesting that we should do something when one other person shows up now, years down the road, you might be disappointed. Oh, we thought we'd get 20 people, and only two people showed up. But the reality is, like, actually, there's still something really powerful, and like three people gathering together. And this is really the spirit in the heart of the idea of not only a local conversation group that meets together to talk about these things, but then also, how can we take small steps to actually put these things into action? Which then leads me to my final question, which I love to end with, which is, what is it that gives you hope, not only for Albany, but for your neighborhood, for your block, for the places that you live?
Andrew Neidhardt 12:35
I would say, honestly, a lot of the things we've been talking about already, you know, people getting involved in their neighborhood, being willing to put in their time. You know, we're also seeing a lot of people who are staying here longer term. Albany is a capital city tends to have people kind of come stay for, you know, a few years working for the state, and then leave. We're seeing really, especially in our walkable and downtown neighborhoods, people coming wanting the amenities that are associated with that, and then staying long term. And then, you know, the people, those people also forming organizations. There's a new neighborhood association in our downtown, where housing had been banned by zoning for decades. Right now, there's all this housing downtown. They've got a neighborhood association. They're organized, and they're getting together. They're advocating for downtown in a way that's never been done before in Albany, and it's just wonderful to see people able to organize and get together and push forward for something positive.
Dustin Moore 13:30
And I would agree, in all of those fronts. And another thing that keeps me optimistic and and pushing through and hopeful is just the strong towns mentality of look for the look for the the plate way people are struggling in your in your neighborhood, in your community. What is the smallest thing you can do to address that? Typically the smallest thing is something that people kind of overlook because they're thinking big picture. But if you can convince your common council person or your state representative that that small thing actually could make a difference, and it's very achievable, you can make a lot of progress on that, and I feel like we've we've made a lot of progress, and we've gotten a lot of attention for organization by focusing on the smallest thing that we can do and that we can easily influence, and then maybe once that's tackled, we'll go on to the next smallest thing.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 14:25
Yeah, and and to do so with a bit of wind in your sails and a clear, clear sidewalk ahead, which is also appreciated as well with that. Dustin Andrew, it's inspiring to hear your story. For anybody that wants to reach out, if you're in the Albany area or you want to learn more about how to do this in your community. Email walkable albany@gmail.com is the easiest way to reach them, and as always, take inspiration from what they've done there. Perhaps you live in a southern climate where maybe some other element of your community that needs addressing. But the truth is that when a few folks get together, you can call your. Self a brigade. You can call yourself a troop, whatever it is that you want to assign as a label to your group the but the key part of it is you're doing things together to be able to address those small things in your community that actually, over time, really add up and make a big difference. And so with that, I wish you, I suppose, lots of snow in order to be able to gather together, but not overwhelming amounts. Yeah, there you go, and a good spring to follow as you continue to build on what you're doing. And with that, to all those out there, take heart. Know that spring is around the corner if you're in a southern climate or a winter climate, but also know that you can do these things as well. And so with that, take care and take care of your places.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Walkable Albany (site).
Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn).
Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!
Subscribe to The Bottom-Up Revolution on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Podbean or via RSS.
