Bottom-Up Shorts: One Soldier’s Stand for Safer Streets
What happens when a city’s design puts lives at risk—and someone decides to speak up?
In this episode, you’ll meet Army Master Sgt. Ben Hultquist, one of the leaders of Strong Towns Fayetteville, a Local Conversation in North Carolina. After a string of preventable deaths, Ben testified in city hall. Now, that testimony is helping turn the conversation in Fayetteville toward people-first design and safer streets.
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Norm Van Eeden Petersman 0:00
Welcome to Bottom-Up Shorts, a Strong Towns podcast. I'm Norm Van Eeden Petersman, and I've met 1000s of Strong Towns members now, and after hearing their stories, I'm often left thinking, I've got to tell you about so and so. That's the spirit behind these shorts, quick introductions to regular people doing really exciting things in their communities. Many of them started out just like you, wondering if they had what it takes, uncertain, maybe even anxious, but they stepped up anyway, and their stories show what's possible. If you like what you hear, please let us know. And as always, take care and take care of your places. Now let me introduce Army Master Sergeant Ben Hultquist, a Strong Towns Fayetteville leader and a daily bike commuter who's seen firsthand how dangerous his city streets can be. The reason that they're on the show is because Ben is pushing for change after witnessing a pattern of tragic, avoidable pedestrian deaths, calling for real safety measures, not just paint on the road. And so you'll hear how his personal experience and city council testimony are helping shape the conversation in Fayetteville toward people, first, design and slower, safer streets. I heard about Ben through a local news story and his powerful remarks at city hall, and I knew right away his story was one we needed to share. So let's get into it. Ben, welcome to Bottom-Up Shorts.
Ben Hultquist 1:20
Well, thank you for having me.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 1:22
I wanted to ask you how it is that you ended up in the paper and in the conversation within your community about what was going on on Riley Road.
Ben Hultquist 1:32
Yeah. So, like you said, I'm in the army. I PCS or transfered here to Fayetteville, North Carolina, last summer. I've been involved with the Strong Towns- Well, not very involved. I was overseas in Korea, and I was looking to get involved, and moving back to the States gave me that opportunity. So I wanted to jump in right away. I looked for other advocacy organizations that were working on bike safety, pedestrian safety, or other kind of Strong Towns concepts. I didn't find any so I decided to start a Strong Towns Local Conversation, just by throwing it out on Reddit. It just so happens that Fayetteville is ranks at the least walkable city in all of America. And shortly after I got here, there was a viral YouTube video demonstrating these two individuals trying to walk through Fayetteville, North Carolina, seeing all the common challenges that we face as Strong Towns leaders every day.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 2:49
And certainly in your experience in the army, you would know that there's a certain culture that emerges, sort of an unofficial culture of practice, within closed communities or open communities. But when we talk about it from a Strong Towns perspective, we say we need to develop a culture of regularly walking, or a culture of regularly hopping on a bicycle and doing things. And when you look at that, what are some of the barriers to that culture sort of emerging, but then what are some of the things that you think really can be changed?
Ben Hultquist 3:20
Yes, so here, there's definitely a culture of driving everywhere. It is a very low- density city with large distance between most things. The pedestrian infrastructure has not been a priority for decades in the city. So most people have the windshield bias that I drive everywhere, everybody drives everywhere, why worry about pedestrians? So I'm definitely trying to change that culture by being visible out there riding my bike and helping give people an idea, maybe permission to be different.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 4:12
Yeah, I think there's that openness to say, hey, you can do this too. And actually, if we begin to do this together, there will be that safety in numbers. There will be that greater sort of awareness of of the presence of more vulnerable road users continuing to be part of of the community. And maybe one of the things that you're looking at are next steps, and what is some of those next steps look like that help to address the risks that are present in your place?
Ben Hultquist 4:41
Yeah. So obviously, I'm fighting for bike lanes, completing the sidewalk network that is kind of staggered and missing pieces. Crosswalks are definitely important. A lot of these very unsafe strodes don't have crosswalks, or the crosswalks are too far apart to meaningfully or to easily get to them and cross. Of course, making the streets narrower and slower, obviously, would probably even do more impact than that. But I'm just trying to raise the issue that it's not just about people who like to walk, but there's a significant portion of people who don't have any other option. Fayetteville in particular is a very poor city. We have about 20% below the poverty line. And that's a large number of people who just cannot afford a car to drive everywhere.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 5:53
And maybe what was the contrast of your time in Korea within the context of serving in the military versus returning to Fort Bragg and the responsibilities that you had there? What was that experience like, and maybe, what were some of the lessons that you took away from that?
Ben Hultquist 6:09
Yeah, so I mean, Korea was great. Korea definitely has problems as they have been transitioning to more and more cars, but the density, the housing and the mixed use and everything. I lived in a 25 story apartment, I walked out the front door, and I had any kind of restaurant that I wanted within walking distance of two, three blocks. Cafes, bakeries, everything like that. It was just nice to not have to get in a car or worry about parking. You just go out and do what you want to do. And then I come here, obviously everything's far apart. There's plenty of parking, you don't have to worry about parking, but that just makes everything further apart. And so it was a bit of a- I mean, I'm from America, I'm from the Midwest, so it wasn't like a culture shock coming back to America. But after getting involved with Strong Towns and the kind of urbanist movement, you notice everything a lot more than when I was growing up.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 7:28
And then you were moved to speak up at your local council meeting and participate in that. And even took reporters calls and were willing to engage with that. Can you describe what that experience was like?
Ben Hultquist 7:41
Yes. So I mean, just to get the word out of there, I'm not a great public speaker. I've been doing it for a few months now, and still not any better. I find it important not only to raise the issues to the decision makers, but the people in the meetings. Our meetings are televised, make it into the into the newspapers and everything else. It's important to get those ideas out there to educate people on the cost of this suburban lifestyle. You know, economically, climate wise, health wise, everything. It has all these different downstream effects that you and I know, but most people across the country, across the world, don't understand.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 8:42
And based on the way that it was reported out, as well as just what I know of the Strong Towns Fayetteville group, I love that the group is not centered around a complaint. It's centered around a compelling vision that there is a better path that is ahead of us, but that it will take that shifting of the conversation, shifting of the landscape, and critically, actually doing some of those tangible things. One of the phrases I often say is "Make the good visible, even before you make it permanent." So that looks like temporary installations of bike lanes, or that looks like adapting and trialing things. We do this already in response to a vehicle that's broken down. We will temporarily modify the roadway in order to allow for safe passage. Well, what if we began to temporarily modify and then, over time, more permanently modify more of our spaces, because they belong to all of us. And I think when you are able to lay that out as a more compelling vision, rather than just the complaint, "Why don't we have nice things?" or "Why aren't we like somewhere else?" I think there's something really powerful. And I know that your group has done a great job of encouraging the local conversation, literally, to shift in response to new ideas and bringing this forward. Maybe as we come into a consideration of who you are, I love to introduce folks to people that are just doing this. I don't want to assume that you are normal, but on the other hand, I think that's the key part of these Bottom-Up Shorts, that it's just normal people that are doing this. And so in your normality, do you want to describe a little bit more about yourself and maybe any of the contributing ideas that have helped shape your perspective today?
Ben Hultquist 10:22
Yeah, I'm just like a normal person, you know. Like I said, I guess I found Strong Towns through YouTube, through Not Just Bikes. The Not Just Bikes series was really great. It really introduced me to that. I'm from the Midwest, like I said. Other than Chicago, there's no real like city cities that you think of that are still dense and incremental. They're all based around stroads and suburbs and everything. And I thought it was great. But my experience in the Army has really broadened my outlook on what is possible and what's really good, right? So, I just got back from Korea. That was my second tour in Korea. I spent a tour in Germany. And, you know, these are places that have a lot of older neighborhoods, or even newer ones that have been designed for people to walk around and enjoy the environment, rather than just a place to buy what you eat. So that really opened me up to all these things. Like they said on Not Just Bikes, someone who's been to Europe, and they come home and they they don't understand what they missed, and Not Just Bikes just kind of explained it so well about what was so great about these European and Asian cities, that they're not like here in America.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 12:26
Well Ben, I'm also excited because we're planning to bring the strong towns national gathering to Fayetteville, Arkansas, next year. So I do trust and believe that some of our venue selection will be guided by questions of, where can we walk in Fayetteville, and where is it going to be safe for people to be out on the streets. And moving from from venue to venue, which is one of the highlights of our recently concluded national gathering in Providence, Rhode Island, where we went from venue to venue, just really experiencing the place. And I think when we come we'll be able to see some of the challenges, as well as some of the things that certainly are room for optimism within the context of Fayetteville, but thinking, I mean, you've got to hear before we show up in your backyard. What is it that gives you hope as you take up this work together with the folks at Strong Towns Fayetteville?
Ben Hultquist 13:12
Oh, I actually hate to burst your bubble. I'm in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 13:17
Oh, there we go! Okay, well, folks, we're heading to the other Fayetteville.
Ben Hultquist 13:22
We are the second most famous Fayetteville.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 13:26
I had a nagging wonder. I was like, wait, no, we are talking about Fayetteville. But yes, so the other Fayetteville is where we will be, but we should also be putting Fayetteville, North Carolina, on our list. Chalk it up to being Canadian. So as before we ever get to your backyard, what is it that gives you hope?
Ben Hultquist 13:44
The thing that gives me hope is there's been a surge in conversation about, you know, pedestrian safety, walkability since I got here, either because of me and my organization, or because of the viral video that came out about the time I got here. There is a renewed emphasis on improving walkability in the city. And there are plans being made with big numbers behind them. They just got to find that money, which is challenging with the spread out lifestyle as it is. But there is the conversation. There is the commitment to improving walkability and pedestrian safety in the city. And I think we are definitely moving in the right direction.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 14:46
Well, I really appreciate that. Ben, and thank you all for listening in as well. If today's story sparked something for you, there's more where that came from. Just head over to strong towns.org. Check out the journal, the other podcasts. Learn about the Strong Towns Crash Analysis Studio, all of those different types of things. And also, if you are in the Fayetteville, North Carolina, area, do check out strongtowns fayetteville@gmail.com is the easiest way to get in touch with the Strong Towns Fayetteville group and continue to be part of what Ben and others in the community are doing to stir up conversations and to have that compelling idea of what the community really needs and can benefit from as we go forward. And so I encourage you all go out there, dive deeper, connect with others. Notice that's certainly a theme that Ben's brought out today. Notice the things around you. Find those tools to also take action in your community. And so until next time, take care and take care of your places.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
Strong Towns Fayetteville (Facebook)
Learn how to make your streets safer with the Crash Analysis Studio model.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
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