Strong Towns Moscow hopes to put pedestrians first 

Imagine a Moscow where kids can bike to school every day, downtown is full of pedestrians,free of cars and new developments are built with people, not cars in mind. This is the future that Strong Towns Moscow hopes to see in the coming years, and this student-led initiative is already making waves in the community. 

Partnering with Strong Towns, a non-profit organization that works to create more safe and livable communities, UI Wildlife major Corbin Scott kickstarted a Moscow chapter to spark a conversation in our own town. The goal of the organization is to educate the community and eventually make Moscow a more pedestrian-focused place to live. 

“Our broad, long-term goal would be to make Moscow a pedestrian centric city, which isn’t going to happen overnight by any means,” said Scott. “This goal is going to years and lots of small, incremental steps.” 

Scott explained that designing cities and towns to accommodate cars is no longer serving the communities we live in, but is rather causing problems with safety, the environment, city infrastructure and the economy. 

“This is a very bipartisan issue because if you want to look at it from the social side of things, you have issues such as equity, beautification and safety,” Scott said. “And from the conservative side you can consider the economy. There’s data to show that American cities are going bankrupt from building for cars.” 

Scott stressed that everyone, whether they are aware or not, is affected by the problem of car-centric cities. Commuting by car can be expensive, inconvenient and poses safety risks for those who choose to walk or bike to their destinations. Biking or walking is fun and promotes a healthy, active lifestyle, and it’s important that there is an opportunity for everyone to bike or walk safely around Moscow if they choose. 

“We want to make Moscow a fun place to bike because it’s a really fun way to get around, and you can see there’s already plenty of people on campus and in Moscow who use bikes,” Scott said. “But there’s also a lot of people who get hit by cars every year in Moscow, and there’s lots of car collisions in residential areas, which makes you ask, ‘why that is happening?’ It’s crazy that we have injuries and deaths due to cars within city limits, and there’s ways to prevent this.” 

Designing Moscow to be more pedestrian and bike friendly would have a huge impact on people with disabilities within the community.  

“Those with disabilities would benefit from less curbs and more walkable space, more accessibility and not having to worry if a car will see them, or if they are safe,” Scott said. “This is such a wide and varied topic, with so many factors, but the actual goal is pretty simple. It’s just people over cars.” 

Another student supporter of Strong Towns Moscow, junior Wildlife major Mady Brock, explained that designing a city to be car centric is inequitable for everyone. 

“You should not have to have a car in order to survive or in order to have a life. As it is, people can’t get to work without a car, and that should not be the way it has to be,” Brock said. 

Strong Towns Moscow has been meeting with Moscow city planners to gage what must be done in order to push forward some of these pedestrian friendly initiatives. One of the biggest obstacles so far has been lack of community support due to the prevalence of car-centric communities for decades. 

“We’ve been car-centric as a country for 60-70 years now, so no one even knows what a walkable city even looks like. It’s not feasible in our minds,” Scott said. “They (Moscow City Planners) say the biggest bottleneck they’re finding is just community support because people will hear they’re considering taking away some parking spots and then get all fired up, because they don’t understand the eventual goal. So, the idea is, we want to educate the community and get them on our side, so we can work with the city planners to make Moscow safer for everyone.” 

One long-term goal of Strong Towns Moscow is to get the highway that runs through downtown Moscow moved to go around Moscow instead of through, reducing the amount of dangerous traffic and congestion running through Main Street. 

For students and community members looking to get involved in this initiative, Scott and Brock say social media and spreading the word is the best place to start. Strong Towns Moscow has an Instagram and Facebook page, along with a Facebook community group. 

“Follow the page, look at the information we’ve posted, and then get out and tell your friends,” Scott said. “Get excited about the change you want to see happen, talk to your neighbors and just spread the word.” 

The group also plans to start hosting a regular community meeting at One World Cafe to discuss issues they see in Moscow and what can be done to remedy them. 

“I would love to see community members voicing their concerns and talking about what they think needs improved,” Scott said. “Like very local issues that the community is facing in their daily lives, I want to get us all thinking about these things together.” 

Strong Towns Moscow has only recently started, but the initiative is quickly gaining traction in Moscow, and they hope to keep the momentum rolling. 

Addressing a common misconception, Brock added, “A lot of people think we’re trying to get rid of cars, but we’re not. We’re trying to make it more fun and safer to walk around.” 

Strong Towns Moscow hopes to see gradual change in this community. It all starts with educating the people who live in Moscow and slowly working toward their goals. Although Scott and Brock are both juniors, their goal is to see this initiative grow and keep impacting the community long after they are gone. 

“Just within the three-mile bubble of Moscow, we want to see pedestrians get the priority when it comes to design,” Scott said. “I want Strong Towns Moscow to be a self-sustaining organization. I want it to be the voice of the people.” 

Grace Giger can be reached at [email protected]