Last week BIKEable Communities sent the following e-mail and questions to candidates for Long Beach Mayor, the contested council sets (Districts 1 and 5) and the State Assembly seat for Long Beach and San Pedro.  We will be posting the responses as we receive them from the candidates.

Below is the e-mail and the five questions.

The election is on Tuesday June 3.  You can register to vote by clicking here up until next Monday May 19 (15 calendar days prior to the election). We are going to see a significant turn over in our elected officials.  Our current council members have been very supportive of the the city’s biking and walking agenda.  Please take a few minutes to find out where the current candidates stand on these issues. And please take the time to vote for the candidates of your choice.

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Text of e-mail sent to Long Beach Candidates

The purpose of this e-mail is to request your response to five questions regarding your views on the importance of building on the city’s active living agenda and the progress Long Beach has made toward becoming one of the best places in the US to live, work, bike and walk.

BIKEable Communities, a Long Beach based non-profit bike advocacy organization, will post your responses along with those of the other candidates on bikeablecommunities.org and on its FaceBook page.

As you know Long Beach has made a strong commitment toward making the city both biking and walking friendly, contributing to a healthier and more economically competitive environment.  As a result of this commitment and the hard work of the city leaders, Long Beach was recently named the 3rd most bike friendly city in the US by the Alliance for Biking and Walking and awarded Silver Status as a bike friendly city by the League of American Bicyclists.

But more important than these awards and the national accolades are the changes we have seen in our city:

• Over 50% of children walk or bike to school — at some schools the percentage is above 90%.
• Over the past 7 years the number of people who bicycle on a regular basis has nearly doubled.
• Young people and retirees are being attracted to Long Beach for the life style, the walking and bicycling friendly culture and the fact that they do not need to depend on a car for the majority of their transportation.
• New businesses including retail shops and restaurants are opening along our bicycle corridors, such as those 3rd and Broadway in the downtown area, 4th Street in RetroRow and the 2nd Street area of Belmont Shore. Many business owners cite that the biking and walking infrastructure and the life style is attracting a clientele they want to serve.

Quality of life is something that is a consistent theme for residents of Long Beach.  Residents, visitors and business owners want a city where people feel comfortable being outside.  Where they want to bike and walk.  These are the qualities that will help make Long Beach a great city, that will differentiate us from our neighboring cities and perhaps most importantly help attract the new residents, visitors and businesses that are so important to the city’s future. 

The new high tech business economy and the employees it needs are also looking for locations that are biking and walking friendly along with transit oriented.  Just look at Google or our very own Molina Healthcare.  Both put a priority on locations that are livable, walkable and bikeable. Do a Google search on “Google biking and walking corporate campus” and see what you find.  Consistent in the search results is the emphasis on biking and walking in and around their corporate campuses.  It is part of their corporate culture and the culture of the employees they want to attract.  In talking to people at Molina Healthcare you hear a similar message.  They want an area that is walking and biking friendly.

As a candidate for one of the most important elected positions in Long Beach we invite you to answer the following questions regarding making Long Beach a more livable city, a city where everyone feels safer bicycling and walking.  Please limit your answers to 250 works for each question. When we receive the answers you we will post them on the BIKEable Communities website (www.bikeablecommunities.com) and FaceBook page.

Thank you for taking the time to answer these important questions.

 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at

 

Regards,

 

Allan Crawford

Executive Director, BIKEable Communities

 

Active living, bicycling and walking in Long Beach

1. Can having an active living oriented, bike and pedestrian friendly culture be an important business differentiator for Long Beach.  Can it help us attract new businesses and new resident that are looking for a city that promotes an active life style along with a business friendly environment. If so, what as an elected civic leader would you do to help deep us ahead of the pack.
2. Studies from Portland other US cities show people on bicycles spend more per month in local business districts than those arriving by other modes.  Bicycling and walk also promote a “shop local” mindset (it’s difficult to get to a far away store to shop if you are walking or biking). What steps would you take to ensure that local businesses in your district are able to benefit from better access by bicyclists?
3. Childhood obesity and chronic weight related health issues are a major problem in the city of Long Beach.  In six of Long Beach’s zip codes residents diagnosed with diabetes, sugar diabetes or pre diabetes is 20% or greater.  As an elected official how would you use your position to foster an active lining agenda that will make measurable improvements in these chronic but often preventable diseases?
4. Would you support a business are resident council on active living that would provide guidance for city policy?
5. Will you commit to using your leadership position in the community to “walk the walk” by personally walking and biking during your tenure in office?