Sparking a new community vision in just one day

PARTNER: ConnectFamilias
LOCATION: SW 8th Street (Calle Ocho), Little Havana
FLICKR: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmct1WSM
TIMELINE: December 2014

CHALLENGE

Miami-Dade County streets are among the most dangerous in the nation for pedestrians and bicyclists. Decades of poor street design that prioritizes cars at the expense of walkability and safety have resulted in streets and boulevards that act as urban highways.

Streets designed in this manner discourage walking and other active uses, especially among groups with the greatest need for safe, easy access such as the young, elderly, and residents with limited mobility. Businesses located along these corridors miss out on the higher foot traffic driven by walkable and bike-able streets, resulting in diminished economic activity. .

Community engagement is also a challenge because public agencies all too often struggle to effectively communicate with diverse stakeholders resulting in poor community feedback, lack of support, and frustration.

SOLUTION

Urban Impact Lab prioritizes direct experiences over conceptual designs and presentations. The team always incorporates a human centered design approach in order to give community stakeholders a tangible, interactive demonstration of how changes to a local street (or other public amenity) will look and feel like.

Stakeholders are invited to participate in the demonstration of a new public project, sometimes playing a direct role in creating the prototype. Engaging directly with a prototype of a proposed project, participants provide exceptionally useful feedback and considerations. The new design or project is no longer an abstract concept but a tangible, real-world example of what the final product might look like. Participants are moved from yes/no feelings and responses to more thoughtful considerations that sound more like, “this would work better if…”.

Demonstrating/prototyping public projects are designed to be low cost, saving cities considerable resources by generating more productive community feedback and reducing resistance to new projects. The process also illustrates unforeseen challenges or problems, giving the responsible parties an opportunity to take corrective action well before the final implementation.

OUR ROLE

The Urban Impact Lab team worked with ConnectFamilia's Live Healthy project to temporarily redesign SW 8th Street (Calle Ocho), using low-cost materials and clear signage.

Urban Impact Lab designed and implemented the full, temporary redesign of one block on Calle Ocho (SW 8th St) in one day.

The redesign featured:

a road diet, reducing the street from 3 one-way lanes to 2 lanes;
a protected bike lane with buffer space to protect cyclists from dooring;
a mid-block crosswalk to facilitate pedestrian mobility;
large, visible speed limit markings on the roadway to control speed;
addition of parklet for broadened public/pedestrian space and enhanced business activity;
bilingual signage explaining every feature’s name, use, and benefit.

The redesign included multiple feedback opportunities, including anonymous messaging, interactive design opportunities, and recorded interviews. At the end of the day, the project team removed all temporary street elements, returning Calle Ocho exactly back to its pre-redesign conditions.

RESULTS & IMPACT

Engagement of over 100 residents and stakeholders in providing feedback for potential Calle Ocho redesign.
Guidance and community feedback provided to the Live Healthy Little Havana effort in defining project priorities and community interest.

INSIGHTS

“Now I see how a protected bike lane might work on Calle Ocho. From what I read before, I did not think it could work, but now I understand how it would make the entire street better.”

-Pablo Canton, Little Havana stakeholder