Dear community,
After nearly four years at Our Streets, this month was my last at the organization. I relocated to Denver, Colorado, with my fiancée, and will be supporting the Bus Rapid Transit project development at the Colorado Department of Transportation.Â
Grassroots advocacy is often a blur. Having had some time now to pause and reflect, my heart swells with pride as I think about all that we have accomplished together.
My time at Our Streets originally began as a one-year seed grant focused on building a campaign to activate impacted communities along the Rethinking I-94 project corridor. In the years that followed, Minnesota has become a national leader in the movement to repair the damage of urban freeways and equitably decarbonize transportation.
Some highlights include:
- Watching the Twin Cities Boulevard campaign grow from an idea to a nationally recognized movement, forcing MnDOT’s hand to study a boulevard conversion
- Successfully organizing for a permanent road diet and pedestrian improvements on Lyndale Avenue S
- Winning federal funding for Bring Back 6th and moving closer to restoring a walkable community corridor along Olson Memorial Highway
- Taking steps towards a City of Minneapolis municipal sidewalk plowing pilot program
- Introducing legislation to reform state transportation planning to better prioritize environmental justice and community consent
Our Streets has an incredible staff and board who pour their soul into this work. They are fearless. They lead with integrity and empathy. They understand what is at stake and don’t settle for less than what we need. Working alongside this team has been the joy of my career.
They would also be the first to say that the true force behind every policy and project win is the community. None of this would have been possible without everyday people who dared to imagine a better future. I am so grateful to everyone who volunteered their time, took an action step, donated, and talked with their neighbors.
One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most in this role is the opportunity to talk with community members about Our Streets’ mission and campaigns. I’ve spoken with hundreds, if not thousands, of Minnesotans about transportation projects and broader issues in their community. As time went on, it became clear that when you peel back the layers, there is so much that unites us. The vision for healthy, connected, affordable, sustainable, and equitable communities, where a car isn’t required to access daily needs, is broadly popular. We are winning and won’t stop fighting for climate, racial, and economic justice for all our neighbors.
Our success extends beyond policies and project outcomes. Together, we are reshaping how transportation decisions are made. We are dismantling the top-down, paternalistic, and racist planning processes that suppressed community dissent and demolished neighborhoods for highways. In its place, we are bringing everyone to the table to reimagine how our public right-of-way can best serve the public interest. I had the privilege of seeing this firsthand at Bring Back 6th Design Week.
The Advocacy and Public Policy programs at Our Streets are in great hands. Yasmin Hirsi and Joe Harrington are incredible leaders who will most certainly take this work in new directions and build a winning coalition. I can’t wait to see what is in store.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
In solidarity,
Alex Burns