Overcoming Soft Barriers to ProgressIdentifying and resolving social obstacles to connectivity in Charlottesville and Albemarle County

Peter KrebsCommunity OrganizerPiedmont Environmental Council

Peter Krebs / PEC

A Disconnected CommunityTo succeed in our Conservation mission to meet our Climate goals, and to get ahead of chronic and infectious diseases, people need quality places to live in urban communities.

Albemarle and Charlottesville residents consistently rate safe, connective places to walk and bike and everyday access to the outdoors as their top priorities.

There’s a lot of work to do.

Peter Krebs / PEC

Greenways InitiativeIn 2017, PEC and the Thomas

Jefferson Planning District (TJPDC)

received a Strengthening Systems

Grant from the Charlottesville Area

Community Foundation to plan and

implement a network of safe, useful,

and restorative bicycle and

pedestrian connections in the Char-

lottesville and Albemarle urban area.Marco Sanchez / PEC

600+ Public Meetings and Gatherings

Hundreds of Events and Presentations

Pop-up Focus Groups

Social Walks and Bike Rides

Walk Ride Run Survey

Active Social Media

Extensive (+ Intensive)Community Engagement

Peter Krebs / PEC x2

600+ Public Meetings and Gatherings

Hundreds of Events and Presentations

Pop-up Focus Groups

Social Walks and Bike Rides

Walk Ride Run Survey

Active Social Media

Extensive (+ Intensive)Community Engagement

Meredith Cole, Marco Sanchez / PEC

600+ Public Meetings and Gatherings

Hundreds of Events and Presentations

Pop-up Focus Groups

Social Bike Rides and Walks

Walk Ride Run Survey

Active Social Media

Extensive (+ Intensive)Community Engagement

Peter Krebs / PEC

600+ Public Meetings and Gatherings

Hundreds of Events and Presentations

Pop-up Focus Groups

Social Walks and Bike Rides

Walk Ride Run Survey

Active Social Media

Extensive (+ Intensive)Community Engagement

Peter Krebs / PEC x2

600+ Public Meetings and Gatherings

Hundreds of Events and Presentations

Pop-up Focus Groups

Social Walks and Bike Rides

Walk Ride Run Survey

Active Social Media

Extensive (+ Intensive)Community Engagement

Peter Krebs / PEC

Extensive (+ Intensive)Community Engagement

600+ Public Meetings and Gatherings

Hundreds of Events and Presentations

Pop-up Focus Groups

Social Walks and Bike Rides

Walk Ride Run Survey

Active Social Media

Peter Krebs / PEC

Some of the Barriers to Progress we heard aboutAcquiring Rights of Way | Car-centric legacy | City-county coordination | Concerns about

gentrification | Existing infrastructure/built-out environment | Fear | Lack of community buy-in

| Lack of county expenditures | Lack of effective process | Lack of follow-up | Lack of

resources | Lack of specific justificative research | Lack of will | Maintenance concerns |

Misperception that trails are for elite | Missing Stakeholders | Network fragmentation |

NIMBYs | Property owner easements/private ownership | Racism | Railroads | Retrofitting

legacy infrastructure | Rivers | Shifting priorities | Staff resources for implementation | VDOT

Prevailing wisdom often turned out to be based on misperceptions...

Barrier: City / County Coordination

Myth: “Good luck getting the City and County to work together.”

Reality: Officials from both localities have excellent peer-to-peer relationships and collaborate frequently but they lack structural frameworks to work on joint projects.

No Common DatasetSpatial Data that is

All.

Over.

The.

Place.

City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County

Coordination CouncilOne

Map (and dataset)

To Rule

Them All!!

VDOT Statewide Bicycle and

Pedestrian Facilities InventoryPeter Krebs / PEC

Jefferson Area Bicycleand Pedestrian PlanCompleted in 2019.

Adopted by local and regional governing bodies.

Shared vision for borderless mobility.

TJPDC

Barrier: NIMBYs

Myth: “Homeowners don’t want public trails going through their backyards.”

Reality: The current condition limits residents’ mobility, and for many (this is crucial), access to recreation in their own lands.

Biscuit Run TrailDisused road through HOA lands.

Peter Krebs / PEC

Biscuit Run TrailResidents envision a safe connector for all ages.

Peter Krebs / PEC

Barrier: Perception of Elitism

Myth: “[Insert marginalized group here] are not interested in walking and biking.”

Reality: Everyone is interested in being healthy. In fact, women, people of color, people with disabilities, the young, and the elderly desire and would benefit most from safe places to walk and bike. But our existing trails might not work for them so they may not want more of the same but would very much like something that meets their needs.

Everyone deserves safe places to walk, ride and play.We track prevalence of chronic disease, transportation insecurity, and park scores.

But we can also talk to the people who know best.

Peter Krebs / PEC

Not wanting to use our trail =/= not wanting trailsFocus groups indicated that women do not have the same requirements as men.

The Walk Ride Run Survey (r=857)backed that up.

Could the same be true with respect to race or socioeconomic status?

Survey did not indicate difference but sample size (82 non-white) was small.

Peter Krebs / PEC

Access =/= AvailabilityMy current research asks whether improved execution and maintenance might open our existing resources to more people and what we need to do to make sure that everyone benefits from new investments.

Peter Krebs / PEC

Barrier: Greenways are nice but a low priority

Myth: “Walking and biking trails are nice- to have but not that important.”

Reality: It has never been more apparent that bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure is vital for community health and economic prosperity. If entities can work between disciplines, new opportunities become possible, often more quickly than if they run through VDOT.

Healthy communities drive economic development.Chuck Flink Came to Charlottesville in 2017.

Local business leaders converted to his Greenways Gospel.

He had breakfast with leaders from the business community. His message of Greenways as engines of human-centered economic development resonated with Tobias Dengel of Willowtree and developer Brian Roy.

Relocation incentive focused on community good.

In 2018 Roy reached a performance agreement with Albemarle County Economic Development Authority for a long-sought pedestrian bridge as a relocation/redevelopment incentive for WillowTree’s new headquarters.

The bridge was installed earlier this month.

Reframing the conversation has yielded results.Anticipated opposition has not materialized.

Many new allies have emerged.

Citizens are speaking up about their aspirations, not just complaining.

City & County are working together and prioritizing shared wins.

Albemarle County has dedicated new budget for quality of life projects.

New vision of Economic Development centered on resident well-being.

Funding is materializing.

Thank You!

Peter Krebspkrebs@pecva.orgwww.pecva.org/cvillegreenways

How You Can Help

Sign up for updates

Become an advocate

Add your group to our Active Mobility Alliance

Work in your community

Join or donate to PEC

Virtual Public Art Bike RIde

Barrier: VDoT, Railroads, Private landowners, etc.

Myth: “[Insert seemingly opaque entity here] is not interested in doing business.”

Reality: They might actually be quite interested in doing business but we need to understand their needs, not just tell them what we want and expect them to care.

“Bodos Trail”Possible Rail-to-Trail conversion

* If and only if * we can reach terms that make sense for the railroad company.

But if we can, they are willing and we’re working on that now.

Peter Krebs / PEC

A Disconnected CommunityCharlottesville and Albemarle have many great places to walk, run, or ride a bike but…

They’re not connected;

Not useful for transportation;

Most people have to drive to get to them;

Not part of everyday life;

Not available to everyone.

Peter Krebs / PEC

Staying Connected, ApartVirtual Bike Rides

Digital Meet-ups

Active Streets Program

Trail/Sidewalk Stories Campaign

○ Flyers○ Social Media○ Door Hangers

Virtual Summit

Peter Krebs / PEC

One Place, Three Jurisdictions, Many Plans...● Albemarle County

Comprehensive Plan (2015)● Albemarle County

Neighborhood Area Plans● Albemarle County Green

Systems Plans● City of Charlottesville Bicycle

and Pedestrian Plan (2015)● MPO Long-Range

Transportation Plans● Rivanna Trail Foundation

Strategic Plan (2005-10)● TJPDC Jefferson Area Bicycle,

Pedestrian, and Greenways Plan (2004)

● TJPDC Bike Route 76 Corridor Study (2015)

● Numerous Small Area, Corridor, and Trail Plans

● etc.City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County

Thank You!

Peter Krebspkrebs@pecva.orgwww.pecva.org/cvillegreenways Hannah Pearce

How You Can Help

Sign up for updates

Become an advocate

Add your group to our Active Mobility Alliance

Work in your community

Join or donate to PEC