Put People First! Sign Now! Our friends at the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities have an important petition on their website to prioritize pedestrians the Arcata Plaza. We at EPIC urge you to sign on. (We did!)
As a local resident, you know that the Arcata Plaza is the heart of the city. During a Farmer’s Market, it is great—alive and vibrant—but most other times, it can be a drag. The Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities wants to “pedestrianize” the plaza—redesign the plaza so that people, not cars or corporations, are put first.
In response to rabble rousing by the Coalition and others, the City has created the Plaza Improvement Task Force to examine alternatives and recommend changes to the City Council. The Coalition is going to present its ideas—and this petition—to the Task Force on Thursday, January 17, and wants to make a strong showing that the community is behind a people-first plaza. They have almost 500 signatures. I’m hoping EPIC can help put them over a thousand. You in? Sign the petition now!
Even if you don’t care about the Arcata Plaza, the principles behind redesigning the Plaza matter for our forests. Think that’s a stretch? Here’s why: population pressure is causing the majority of new housing in Humboldt County to be built outside of our urban core of Arcata and Eureka. The antidote to sprawl is densification of our urban core, and a required component of densification is to prioritize pedestrians. As study after study has shown, building more walkable neighborhoods is good for public health, reduces crime, improves local businesses and reduces greenhouse gases. The petition calls for the city to prioritize people over cars—over 62% of the Plaza is currently spent on parking—and to make Arcata a more walkable, livable place. Please sign today.