I was going to make this Friday’s Film Fun, but I think it’s just too cool to wait. Dallas hasn’t exactly been known for embracing the bicycle and pedestrian, but the fine people at Bike Friendly Oak Cliff have been taking on the car culture in incredible ways the last couple years. First, they were instrumental in getting the previous anti-bike infrastructure bicycle coordinator removed. Now they are taking the streets back for people, on block at a time.

On April 10, BFOC held a “Build a Better Block” party to create Dallas’ first complete street. Cars were not banned but instead put into proper balance. The street was narrowed with the creation of a buffered bike lane and parking replaced with public space in the form of cafe seating.

From Washington to City Hall, our leaders seem to be captive to the interests of the auto and oil industries and the sprawling land development business that benefits from this system. They are beholden to the old economies and show a lack of leadership to bring us to the new economies. It’s encouraging to see individual citizens take control of their community and show how great complete streets are for our health, our safety, and our economy. . . and as Jason Roberts said in the video, all without spending thousands and hiring outside consultants.

In Austin, we could learn a few things from our Oak Cliff brethren. We don’t have to wait for the City and its consultants to make our neighborhoods better. We should take back control of our city and our streets and make it a better place today.