A Complete Street is a road that is designed to be safe for drivers; bicyclists; transit vehicles and users; and pedestrians of all ages and abilities. The Complete Streets concept focuses not just on individual roads but on changing the decision-making and design process so that all users are routinely considered during the planning, designing, building and operating of all road ways. It is about policy and institutional change. - Taken from "Complete Streets: We Can Get There from Here," by John LaPlante, P.E., and Barbara McCann
"Transportation corridors, whether a main street or a scenic road, and transit facilities whether a simple bus stop or a major train station, are natural focal points for communities. To view them as catalysts for strengthening community life necessitates a shift away from the way transportation has traditionally been conceived." - Project for Public Spaces for the Transportation and Livable Communities Consortium
The goal of placemaking "is to create a place that has both a strong sense of community and a comfortable image, as well as a setting and activities and uses that collectively add up to something more than the sum of its often simple parts." -Project for Public Spaces
"Providing people with more choices in housing, shopping, communities, and transportation is a key aim of smart growth. Communities are increasingly seeking these choices -- particularly a wider range of transportation options -- in an effort to improve beleaguered transportation systems ... [They] are beginning to implement new approaches to transportation planning, such as better coordinating land use and transportation; increasing the availability of high quality transit service; creating redundancy, resiliency and connectivity within their road networks; and ensuring connectivity between pedestrian, bike, transit, and road facilities. In short, they are coupling a multi-modal approach to transportation with supportive development patterns, to create a variety of transportation options." -Smart Growth Online
"Managing growth, reducing traffic, creating sustainable development, and making smart transportation investments; these are all challenges we face today. New Urbanism is a development strategy that addresses these issues and more by creating communities that are livable, walkable, & sustainable, while raising the quality of life." -NewUrbanism.org
"Current trends indicate a strong association between our transportation infrastructure, the level of routine physical activity among Americans, and their health. Diverse transportation choices can help improve public health by promoting active living, a way of life that integrates physical activity into daily routines. Active Living by Design promotes environments that offer choices for integrating physical activity into daily life. Transportation determines not only how people move from place to place, but also the fundamental character of communities and the choices and opportunities people are provided." -Active Living by Design
"The only way we are going to meet the transportation needs of our state is to be willing to change how we do business and to keep building and extending our partnerships."
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Connie Niva, WSDOT Commissioner
"Until we build real communities, all we're gonna do is build more traffic."
"Lately, people have been talking increasingly about 'loss of place.' What they're describing is the kind of place that has been special in their lives and has given them a strong sense of community."
"Poor planning and policy have made it impractical in many cities to conduct even simple trips without dependency on cars. The trend toward larger and larger stores, parks, schools and even churches eliminates the possibility of short trips. Our responses to these poor land use decisions include building wider and wider streets and intersections, further dividing towns. In some towns conditions are so extreme that children are bussed distances of less than 300 feet because they cannot safely cross primary streets. Many people get into their cars just to get to the store on the opposite side of the street. Our children are growing up dependent on their parents for almost all of their travel."
