Living Streets Alliance

The mission of the Living Streets Alliance is to advocate for a thriving Tucson by creating great streets for us all.

We aim to empower citizens, staff, developers and public officials to improve the livability of our public rights of way and street network to be more connective and convenient for walking and cycling, while simultaneously utilizing roadway improvement as a means of enhancing the urban environment and character of the greater Tucson region. The Living Streets Alliance seeks to inspire urban improvements for walking, cycling, public transit, and healthy community and neighborhood life through outreach, education, and advocacy pertaining to alternative modes of transportation and basic improvements to the physical condition and design of roadways and the public right of way.

Our Philosophy

Living Streets Alliance is based on our shared belief that public streets are a major resource for building vibrant and healthy communities. Public Living Streets should be seams in the community and not barriers. Public Living Streets can be used for healthy community activity, way beyond the dominant single purpose vehicle access that the current network primarily serves. Healthy communities in the future will serve the needs of a healthier and more social, comfortable and safer life by establishing feature streets for walking, cycling, events, and improved neighborhood vitality and sustainability. We aim to improve the health of individuals, neighborhoods, and of the environment by fostering support for public policy and a built environment that prioritizes safe, walkable, bikable, and habitable (for both humans and nature) streets.

Our Values

Equity

• We commit to listen and to be accountable to our communities, being vigilant of the injustices that have long been systematized and institutionalized. We pledge to develop our work in a way that builds upon the movement towards racial, social, and economic justice.
• Transportation equity means trusting the stories people have to share about what it’s like for them to be in the street, and accepting that we cannot have Complete Streets until we have policies that support Complete Communities.

Integrity

• We act with transparency and honesty among our staff, board, with our partners and community members.
• We are intentional and thoughtful in our actions and open to changing course if and when necessary.
• In being deliberate in our actions, we commit to investing in long-term outcomes, even when that strategic work is less recognizable in the short term.

Inclusivity

• We cultivate an organizational culture that values a diversity of voices, communities, and partners.
• We practice inclusive processes that lead to the co-creation of ideas and shared decision-making.
• We believe that through practicing inclusivity in our everyday work, we are better able to lay the foundation for a new public decision making process that truly centers the needs of the community.
• We listen and value local knowledge of the community and honor the process of building authentic relationships in which we are accountable to communities and partners.

Collaboration

• We practice collaborative processes as part of our internal organization culture as well as with partners and community members. Collaboration is not simply a means to an end, but rather integral to a shared power structure that is required for challenging mainstream engagement and decision-making.
• We are mindful of strategic collaborations and partnerships to ensure that those relationships lead us in alignment with our mission, vision and values (and conversely, choose not to participate in collaborations that are not aligned with our values.)

Innovation

• We make the possible visible.