The Asheville Bench Project is a very grassroots, incremental, small-bet approach to making Asheville a little more livable, a little more people-friendly.
Today’s guest is choosing to remain anonymous (find out why in the episode). He was watching his neighbors stand out in the hot sun, the rain, the cold, waiting for their buses at utterly neglected patches of sidewalk, with cars whizzing past, and not even a place to sit while they waited. So he took matters into his own hands and started building benches and installing them at bus stops.
He didn’t ask permission or go through a permitting process. He just saw a problem and started addressing it. His effort, which is only a couple months old, has already grown into a project with multiple volunteers, positive feedback from bus riders, and some local businesses starting to get involved.
For the founder of the Asheville Bench Project, this effort is about more than simply providing a place for a weary rider to sit. It’s also about drawing attention to how the city has neglected to do this work itself. Eleven percent of households in Asheville don’t have a car. Is it too much to ask that a key source of transportation, especially for those people without cars, be modestly humane and accommodating? Our guest today wants his local leaders to start thinking about that how much they prioritize car travel and how little they consider the often much more cost-effective and resilient forms of transportation like biking, walking, and transit.
Overall, our guest’s message is simple but so important: If you see something wrong in your city, you have the power to fix it. And you should step up and do just that.
Grab your ticket to the 2022 Local-Motive Tour today!
Check out the Asheville Bench Project on Instagram.
Send your story ideas to rachel@strongtowns.org.
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Gracen Johnson: A Neighborhood Person
Gregg Lombardi: Collaborating for Neighborhood Revitalization
Andrea Marr: An Interdisciplinary, Incremental Leader
Billy Altom: Helping Rural Residents with Disabilities to Thrive
Kirk Seyfert: Increasing Bike Access for All
Beth Hoffman: Getting Real about the Cost and Value of Farming
Ashley Salvador: Building Gentle Density and a Grassroots Campaign for City Council
Mason Thompson: Saying Yes to Your City
Tim Wright: Joining with Neighbors and Taking Action
Rebecca Undem: Helping Small Towns and Their People Thrive
Rob Green: A Strong Towns Advocate and Mayor
Sarah Davis: Data-Driven, Community-Centered Planning
Austin Taylor: Using Tactical Urbanism to Make Your Town Stronger
Chuck Marohn: Taking a Strong Towns Approach to Transportation
Cate Ryba: Connecting Neighbors and Harnessing the Power of Fun
Tiffany Owens: Paying Attention to Your City
Thomas Dougherty: Turning Alleys into Productive Space
Wendy Streit: Using Public Art to Help Small Businesses
Mary Jones: Taking Matters Into Her Own Hands to #SlowTheCars
Jenifer Acosta: Giving New Life to Historic Buildings and Neighborhoods
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