Please donate to help us create safer, healthier, more vibrant streets for all.
Leader
Chris Guenther
Location
City of Santa Rosa Santa Rosa, CA 95405
Spearheaded by Bikeable Santa Rosa, Safe Streets Santa Rosa is a campaign to accelerate the creation of a safe and seamless transportation network that allows people to move freely and conveniently regardless of how they travel – whether driving, walking, biking, taking buses, scooting, skating, and/or using mobility-assistance devices.
With your help, we will catalyze the rapid implementation of low-stress bike and pedestrian infrastructure, integrated with better transit and traffic management, in order to make Santa Rosa’s streets safer, healthier, and more vibrant for all.
Better streets will:
The City of Santa Rosa has already set goals to enhance and diversify mobility options, including ensuring accommodation for all types of users – i.e., “motorists, pedestrians, public transportation users, children, seniors, and persons with disabilities” (General Plan) – and developing and maintaining “a complete and convenient bicycle and pedestrian network” (Bike & Pedestrian Master Plan).
However, progress in implementing these plans remains frustratingly slow and too often our leaders fall back on old habits that prioritize cars above all else, leaving our streets louder, dirtier, and more congested and dangerous for everyone, including drivers.
By rallying around a vision of safer, healthier streets for all and mobilizing the creativity and willpower of the whole community, we aim to realize our shared goals in a matter of months and years rather than decades.
We know this is possible because a growing number of cities have accomplished it in just the last few years, and there is a deep well of resources – including proven approaches to advocacy and quick-build methodologies – that we can draw on to replicate their success.
Your donation will help kickstart a community-led campaign to implement transformative mobility projects in Santa Rosa.
Growing Our Base – We’ve already built a strong and engaged network of supporters from across the city, but we’re just getting started. As we further develop our campaign, we need to continue to grow our network and tap more deeply into the creativity, knowledge, and skills of our fellow citizens and community leaders. To that end, we will continue the careful and important work of coalition-building, including:
Organizing for Impact – We're fortunate to be able to draw on the experience and example of other U.S. cities that have built enhanced mobility networks in recent years. To quickly build our capacity and take full advantage of this resource, we have reached out for support from City Thread, a non-profit organization that collaborates with groups like ours to accelerate mobility and place-based projects in communities around the country, and whose leaders have been directly involved in campaigns to build ambitious new bike networks in places like Austin, Denver, Pittsburgh, and New Orleans. To help get us on our way, City Thread has proposed to conduct an Accelerated Mobility Readiness Assessment, which is the first step in implementing their playbook for rapid-implementation mobility projects.
Driving Change – Even as we work to craft a full-scale campaign, we are already actively engaged on mobility-related issues and projects before the City. In recent months, we have coordinated community engagement and feedback on the City’s annual budgeting process, its pending Mendocino Avenue Reimagined project, and its plans for accessing grant funding to support active transportation infrastructure. We will continue monitoring and commenting on ongoing matters with the City Council, the Climate Action Subcommittee, the Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Board, and related bodies. In doing so, we will continue to raise awareness and lay the groundwork to deliver sustained and effective advocacy throughout our campaign.
Designing safer, healthier streets and enhancing transportation options is a way to advance several urgent and interconnected goals for Santa Rosa:
We hope you will join us in bringing this far-reaching vision to life!