Community



Most people want to feel safe in their communities. Residents also want the freedom to walk their areas with peace of mind.

Achieving safety and walkability largely depends on the community’s makeup. For example, is it a suburban or urban area?

Data indicates that individuals go through housing cycles in their lifetimes—the population flocks to urban and downtown areas in their young adult years. Then, the population moves to suburban areas after marrying and expanding their families.

Nonetheless, achieving high safety and walkability in all communities is possible.

What Is a Safe and Walkable Community?

A safe and walkable community is one that has a low degree of crime and hazards for its residents. Children can play on the streets, adults can chat with neighbors, and pets can thrive in the area.


The following is a resident’s guide for creating a community that’s safe and walkable.


Meet Your Neighbors

Safe and walkable communities begin with neighbors who know each other. Sometimes individuals with nefarious intentions move into neighborhoods.

While each resident reserves the right to privacy, households must understand who lives in the area, especially if they have children.

Neighbors who know each other can provide information if a child goes missing. Neighbors can also warn each other if they spot suspicious activities.

Moreover, neighbors who become well-acquainted become friends, turning into a beneficial relationship once everyone starts aging.


Community members with immediate safety and personal injury concerns can speak with legal professionals at Avian Law Group.

Walk the Area to Identify Hazards

Next, walk the area to identify hazards. Take note of cars speeding by at specific intersections and streets.
  • It also helps to identify the following:
  • Aggressive pets
  • Properties and landscaping that require maintenance
  • Roads and streets that require maintenance
  • Sections that have blight
  • Abandoned properties
Cleaning up community sections that could attract problems is essential for safety. It’s also necessary to ensure that aggressive pets cannot cause harm to others.

Hold Block Parties

Neighbors must use tact when addressing issues with each other. Therefore, become acquainted and find common ground first.

Find common ground with each other by holding block parties that feature food, games, and an environment for chatting.

Hold block parties for the Federal holidays, such as Memorial Day Weekend, Labor Day, and Independence Day. It’s also possible to hold them quarterly so the community looks forward to the gatherings.

Create Neighborhood Watch Groups

Now, create neighborhood watch groups. Ideally, every neighbor will participate so that no member feels overwhelmed or completes all the duties alone.

In addition, active neighborhood watch groups create cultures of safety and walkability. Therefore, the need for constant vigilance lessens over time.

Invite Law Enforcement to Provide Guidance

Invite local law enforcement, from the sheriff’s department to firefighters, to provide guidance annually during neighborhood watch group meetings.

The local authorities remain abreast of trends and statistics that impact their communities. Therefore, residents can use them as resources.

For example, if carjackings have become a trend in nearby areas, the movement could also visit other communities. Thus, residents can prepare themselves by changing their habits.

Instead of parking vehicles on the streets, parking them in property garages is a solid short-term solution.

Bring Concerns to the Community’s Council

Although local authorities can provide guidance, they need to offer long-term solutions.

For example, residents can address speeding vehicles with local police, who can start giving traffic citations. However, local police cannot place their resources in one intersection continually.


Thus, residents must take their concerns to their councils.

Arrive at the meetings prepared to make attendance effective. Write concerns concisely and practice reading them to an audience aloud.

Touch on essential bullet points, show proof, and provide signed petitions to the councils.

Provide Assistance to Each Other

Some communities experience low resident turnover. Therefore, the community members age together.

As individuals age, they experience physical and mental changes that prevent them from completing daily tasks, especially outdoor maintenance.

Thus, the last way to create safe and walkable communities is to assist each other.

Kids can mow lawns for a fee, teaching them entrepreneurship. Adults can help each other with meal preparation and exterior home maintenance.

Well-kept properties and active residents keep individuals with nefarious intentions at bay, and members alert.

The community might need new stop signs, lowered speed limits, or signage to address ongoing issues - only councils can make them happen.

Conclusion

Keeping communities safe and walkable begins with residents. Start by getting to know each other. Then, assess current hazards and address them with local authorities and councils.