After man's death, people (finally) look at the right evidence.

Something happened recently that reminded me to remain open to different types of evidence. It also showed why it's crucial to present evidence in a way that grabs people's attention.

A tragic death. I live on a large urban park/lake visited by many people daily. For years, an elderly man walked with his dog in our neighborhood. He was always friendly and rather well-known, so it came as a shock when he was struck by a car, dying of his injuries soon thereafter. It occurred to me that we should have a vigil: To remember him, and to draw attention to the busy park perimeter ...a street with few sidewalks. Oftentimes I see people in wheelchairs, or with baby strollers, in the street alongside speeding cars and city buses.

Resisting the urge to talk evidence, sticking to the story instead. I emailed neighbors, city government, and local press about the twilight vigil we planned. I avoided talking about numbers, accountability, or 'evidence-based government', and focused on quality of life and images of the elderly walking in the street. A few neighbors pitched in, though none of us knew what to expect - and wow, what a response we got: More than 125 people attended the vigil, including 3 elected officials. Excellent stories in the Denver Post (Tina Griego's beautiful column, nice coverage of the vigil, and an article about the accident). Also, stories on the 10:00 news (CBS & ABC).

Success! I'm proud to say we got fast results. Although it took two years for a nearby block to convince the city to add a crosswalk, within 6 weeks our Public Works folks announced a plan to make this a 24-hour "Safety Zone" - by December they'll be adding signage, speed-monitoring equipment, crosswalks, double yellow lines.

It's not about cars. It's about pedestrians. I believe we approached this the right way. For years, some neighborhood folks have made this about automobile traffic, and dominated the agenda at community meetings. But many of us believe there really aren't too many cars -- they just need to slow down, and there need to be better options for pedestrians. Traffic studies (done by outsiders) have collected evidence by counting cars, eventually concluding that stop lights aren't needed because automobile traffic hasn't increased significantly. But they were asking the wrong question, and completely overlooked another type of evidence: This neighborhood has changed, and pedestrian traffic is increasing: Young families are moving here, pop tops are appearing all over the place, and the park/lake is being used for more activities such as 10K runs, 'Mommy' exercise groups, etc.

Lessons learned? There were several, including these:

• The press still matters. A lot.
• You can get people talking about evidence without using the word 'evidence'.
• Sometimes it's best to draw attention to your evidence without discounting someone else's. Go around them, not at them.

For Kenneth Huff. May he rest in peace.

Comments

[Miguel Olivas-Lujan]

Congratulations Tracy!!! I perceive at least two important victories here: first, in the community action or volunteerism (social) and second, in the change of problem conceptualization (intellectual). Hard to think of a better way to honor a victim...