CONtext+disCOURSE

Long Beach Bold

Norman Vincent Peale counseled "Be bold, and the forces of power will come to your aide."

The bold goal set by leaders in Long Beach of becoming "the next great bike city in America" has served as a catalyst for money and talent moving to Long Beach. Since this goal was established in 2007 literally millions of dollars have come from outside Long Beach in the form of grants and funding allocations to help achieve this bold goal. Business owners have taken voluntary leadership positions in this campaign. Specialists in bicycle education, planning and street design have joined the team. The City of Long Beach recognizes the economic development potential of this bold goal and is capitalizing on it. All this activity, from establishing the goal, to keeping the focus on outcomes, have come from an unexpected source - Long Beach bicyclists and the people who love them.

So what is next?

Part of our strategy is to broaden the conversation in Long Beach to consider ways other cities have successfully evolved to safely incorporate cycling into the streetscape. On Monday, June 15, 6pm at the appropriately named Cafe - Utopia, (corner of E. 1st and Linden, downtown), a recognized expert in quality street design for cycling, Michael Moule, will give a lecture on traffic circles, bike blvds, and other innovations on the horizon in Long Beach. Please attend this free event if you are interested in this topic and would like to know more. Mr. Moule is a traffic engineer who as worked in Seattle and now Tampa, Florida.

Rock Miller, a respected leader among progressive traffic engineers in Southern California will also be at this event and will present specific opportunities for bike blvd. treatments in various Long Beach locations.

Hosted by Brian Ulaszewski, Context+Discourse and Charles Gandy, City of Long Beach Mobility Coordinator.