Tactical Urbanism Takes Hold in Missoula

"There are a lot of factors that lend themselves to individual happiness, but it seems that transportation is often the key," writes Allie Kane, Transportation Demand Management Specialist with Missoula in Motion. "We’re constantly on the move so how we get places matters. Designing cities and providing enough options so that it’s quick, easy, and safe to get somewhere without a car is critically important."

"A robust sustainable transportation system has a multitude of benefits that increase our happiness – lower levels of stress, more opportunities to connect with your community, improved health, improved mood, more time to spend on hobbies, and significantly lowered risk of injury and reduced fatalities from car crashes to name a few." To promote these benefits, "Missoula in Motion’s Sunday Streets program embraces this notion each year, closing off 1 mile of roadway to cars and opening it up for people of all ages and abilities to recreate, engage in activities with local organizations, and experience their streets in a whole new way."

The article extols the benefits of a walkable, green, and people-centered built environment and gives examples of tactical urbanism projects that have spurred the potential for permanent changes to Missoula's public infrastructure, such as the Neighborhood Greenway installed on Kemp Street. "Missoulians are starting to embrace tactical urbanism in a variety of temporary projects meant to catalyze long-term change throughout the city.  It’s been so effective at creating safer and more climate-friendly streets that these two organizations are putting together a toolkit to help community members navigate this process in their own neighborhoods."

Missoula in Motion plans to release the toolkit this summer.