At a Glance
The City Planning Department of Flint, Michigan used an easy-to-use street design tool to re-imagine a 2-mile stretch of highway with bike lanes, pedestrian walkways, cars, and an increased business presence. A contentious road diet became fun and invigorating with 2 workshops engaging hundreds of people.
Problem Addressed
MLK Avenue in Flint, Michigan is a busy 2-way highway leaving pedestrians and bicycles underserved. To increase desirability of the city, the Flint planning department initiated a corridor enhancement program to implement a road diet.
The new street would have bike lanes, cars, and parking. Any street project - especially road diets - have the potential to become contentious if residents and small business owners are not given REAL opportunities to shape project scope and design. The planning department in Flint knew community buy-in for the corridor enhancement program was essential, so it sought creative ways to increase citizen engagement.
City of Flint used/is using Streetmix to address this/these challenge(s).
Solution(s) Used
In spring 2018, Michael, an urban designer at the Flint planning department, used Streetmix to create 3 potential ideas for MLK Avenue. Next, he promoted these ideas on the department’s "City of Flint Master Plan" Facebook group and invited the community to attend a workshop to provide feedback on the desirability and accessibility of the imagined streets.
Because of the Streetmix’s imagery, the post reached over 4,000 people — more than 10x their average level of engagement — and as a result, 80 community members attended the workshop. With a much higher attendance than previously expected, the community prioritized street safety (road diet, pedestrian crossings, etc), placemaking (street banners, etc), and street furniture (benches, trash cans, bus shelters).
Following the success of the first workshop, the planning department hosted a day-long popup event on May 19, 2019 to imagine what the business district of Flint could look like. The $6,000 budget was spent on outreach (radio ads) and renting furniture (tables, chairs, and so on). By activating old businesses and having numerous vendors at the event, the inspirational popup event was like “sugar for the medicine,” said Michael.
In addition to activating the street, a participatory budgeting exercise gave attendees a voice to prioritize how money would be spent on street improvements. Each participant was given $20 they could spend, so for example, if someone wanted decorative lighting installed in the business district, they would place $4 in the "decorative lighting" bag next to that board. This exercise gave the city important data to understand what the community really valued.
Outcomes
- Posts on the city’s Facebook group were 10x higher when they contain Streetmix images, leading to high engagement and attendance in workshops and other public events.
- Higher attendance at workshops meant that survey data is much more representative of the city’s residents.
- With Streetmix, ideas could be quickly communicated visually instead of hypothetically, which streamlined negotiation and decision making between the planning department and DPW.
- The project was approved in two years, and construction on this road diet was originally planned for spring 2020.
Something Unique
With a simple Facebook post, the city of Flint excited the community about the potential of upgrading a local highway. This led to a popup event that showcased a successful business district, with reactivated old businesses, new vendors, and a participatory budgeting exercise to help the community dream bigger.
Who Should Consider?
Looking to invite citizen engagement for an upcoming road diet? This case study by the City of Flint with 2 highly-attended events is a great example of what is possible with a small budget and enthusiasm.