Neighborhood Associations

Neighborhood Associations are a way for residents to discuss their priorities for their neighborhood (Fig. 1). It is a forum through which you can share and influence the priorities of others in your neighborhood, especially by linking BikePed issues to broader concerns like traffic calming and other BikePed benefits. It's also a good opportunity to discuss your priorities with your ward director, state representative, and other decision-makers/influencers, who are often in attendance.

color map of neighborhood associations
Figure 1. An interactive map of neighborhood association contact information and meeting times/locations.

When bicycle and pedestrian advocates have done regular education/outreach with their neighbors in these forums, it is easier to install bicycle and pedestrian facilities when the opportunity arises (e.g. street resurfacing projects, bicycle boulevards) because residents will already understand the benefits of these facilities to their immediate community.

Especially if your neighborhood has prioritized BikePed safety and connectivity, it may be a good time to revisit or create your Neighborhood Action Plan (e.g. Boyle Park, Cloverdale), a document co-written by your neighborhood association and CLR Planning and Development to articulate your neighborhood's desired future direction. Ward Directors refer to documents like these when making infrastructure decisions and BikePed Little Rock and others can reference these as evidence of neighborhood intentions/community outreach when writing BikePed grants.