click on any icon for specific streetscape opportunities and solutions

welcoming streets in every neighborhood

Safety is the first principle that guides COVstreets. But while we’re working together on improvements to protect every user, let’s think about (and act on) ways to make streets more welcoming, too. Clean and tidy streets give folks a reason to be proud of the neighborhood, and that’s infectious. The city can’t weed every sidewalk and monitor trash on every street, but we can set up more regular opportunities to support residents who want to keep their streets clean and welcoming. Partnerships like this require buy-in from people on every block, but efforts that the city launches can spark the sort of sustained participation that is the best return on investment any city initiative can produce.

opportunities

There are almost twice as many miles of sidewalks in Covington as there are miles of streets. Maintaining them is a massive project that the city has only started to address. City ordinance provides for matching funds for sidewalk repairs, but that program doesn’t always connect with residents who most need the assistance. But folks are more likely to maintain sidewalks in good condition; crumbling and tilted slabs don’t inspire the neighborhood pride that encourages grassroots efforts to clean up litter, plant flowers, and the like. Turning attitudes toward more hopeful and positive prospects is a project city government can’t tackle alone, but it can lend a quick boost by setting up a framework to support street-by-street initiatives that will flourish on their own given the right start.

Covington’s urban forestry board does great work in identifying neighborhoods with shade and beautification needs and planting new trees twice a year. The city could complement that effort at low cost with funds for folks to plant flowers in neighborhood planters or in their own front yards.

solutions

Grassroots street cleanups sponsored by city start-up programs:

  • organizational assistance with communications (social media and mailers)

  • dedicated city equipment and supplies reserved for scheduled cleanup events

  • incentives and friendly competition for streetside beautification

  • micro-grants for flower planters and front-lawn gardens

Long-term support for sidewalk improvements:

  • adequate funding for and active publication of opportunities for city assistance with sidewalk repairs, along with a systematic survey of sidewalk conditions in every neighborhood

  • pilot programs and support for coordinated teams of volunteer snow-shoveling teams

  • active cooperation with and/or legal action against utilities that disregard sidewalk usage when erecting or maintaining utility infrastructure