Street Names, Wayfinding, and the Status Quo

Over the last year I have come to a much greater understanding of the nuances of this city. In many ways the more questions I ask; the more questions that it leads to. While in many ways that reflection has made me more anxious, it also makes me realize that the status quo cannot stand. We have to start addressing the issues that face this city sooner rather than later.

I remember going to the Hickory Daily Record website late last year and reading a message from Jay Adams about naming the streets. I have heard this issue stated many times before by people and my thoughts were that I was against it. I grew up here and I haven't ever had a problem getting around this city. But maybe there in lies a problem. I haven't wanted to change our street identification system, because it is something that I have grown accustomed to.

During the first Future Economy Council meeting back in March, I listened to some of the issues that Jay addressed and I was literally shocked. I agreed with much of what Jay was saying and I had always thought that we were polar opposites from reading his quotes in the HDR. In particular, he made one statement I profoundly agreed with when talking about the current economic mindset of this community…

(summarizing) over the last nine years we have become lean and that has in many ways put us in a strong position, but we have also adapted down and become accepting of this extreme level of cost containment at the expense of growth.

At the end of that meeting, Jay came up to me and introduced himself and said he thought it was great that we were going to be on the same team for once. I agreed and we set up a meeting where we got together and vetted where we agree and disagree. That subsequent meeting ended up lasting for 4 hours.

What I told Jay, and tell most everyone else around here involved in these processes of Hickory's evolutionary development, is that we need to realize that we come at these issues from an principle of 80% agreement. We need to realize that and address the issues that we agree on first and figure out where we can compromise on the other issues where we don't agree. The issues where we hold vehement disagreements need to be resolved last. And when the public chooses which path to take on those areas where we are so different, then we need to live with the results and move on without holding grudges. I truly believe that in the past this community has gotten stuck in those areas where we have firm disagreements and thus let real issues rot and decay, because of the contentiousness over these issues.

Getting back to the Street Identification issue. I have reflected more on this issue and it is because of Jay. This is one of Jay's pet issues and I have to admit that after listening to him that he has moved me on the issue. As I have said, the current grid system works for me. But, is it worth getting locked into? Do I have a right to tell people that it works for me, so tough if it doesn't work for you?

We have all anecdotally dealt with trying to give people directions to get around the city. We have all heard horror stories associated with people getting around the city. Let's be realistic, we know that we have a bad reputation associated with our Street identification system. It is all over the internet. That is a problem and it is time that we face it. It is a big negative when trying to market this city for people to be talking about our city in the manner above. It is hard to quantify, but if you carry the above consequences out, then you can't help but come to the conclusion that it is hurting our property values and our economy, because people don't want to deal with it.

This is the number one reason why I have changed my mind on this issue. After further reflection and honestly listening to Jay, I do see where he is coming from. Jay (ACRES) markets and sells Real Estate. It diminishes and devalues the local Real Estate marketplace, whether right or wrong, when people say it is impossible (some say a nightmare) to get around Hickory. As for us, who are used to the grid system, it isn't about us. It is about people visiting the city, it's about potential new residents, it's about new customers, it's about people being able to efficiently get from point A to point B, and it's about not having to have those excruciatingly tough phone calls telling people how to get to your location. The best thing is that there is a compromise.

I heard Mandy Pitts on WHKY this morning addressing the Wayfinding issue. Last year and earlier this year, the Issue was addressed at two Council Meetings and in several Focus Groups. The issue was first addressed at the City Council Meeting of October 7, 2009. In that meeting Assistant City Manager Andrea Surratt addressed the council. She said that this subject was first brought to atention at the February 2008 retreat. She thoroughly discussed the issue as a way of reducing sign clutter, projecting community image, projecting consistency, and safety.

Here is a link to a wayfinding system in New York City. Wayfinding in NYC

As I stated at the time, if this project is developed in such a way to help businesses and organizations in every quadrant of our city, then I think it will be a wonderful thing. It would be a great benefit to the small businesses interspersed throughout our city. It also would collaterally help businesses near those destinations. So I really do think that this will be a great project for 21st century Hickory, if the focus is right.

The City did move forward on this plan, and at the City Council meeting on January 20, 2009 Ms Surratt made another presentation. this time a Contract was approved with Frazier Associates for Professional Services for the Wayfinding and Branding Project not to Exceed $73,850. You can follow the link above, but there was much debate about this issue. Here is a summarization of that debate:

Mr. Lail believes that this idea is excellent, but he had questions about the cost of the contract with Frazier and he also wondered aloud about the possibilities of finding a local firm to do this. Ms. Hoyle had questions about the timing of this expenditure during these uncertain economic times. Mr. Meisner asked if there was any way to pare this plan down. The Mayor, Mrs. Fox, and Mrs. Patton seemed to feel that it was time to move forward on this issue, because of aesthetics, mapping, and long-range planning. The deciding vote was 4-3 with the Mayor, Fox, Patton, and Seaver For and Lail, Hoyle, and Meisner against.

Here was the Hounds take:

I am 50-50 on this issue at the current time. I think that this needs to be done, but wonder about the timing during current circumstances. I can understand where both sides are coming from. It is hard to justify an expenditure, like this, at this point in time; but we really do need to work on the "Brand Identity" of this town. Go ahead and get this study done so that we can have a system and then we need to incrementally put it in place.

The major expense is going to be sign implementation. I also wondered, like Brad, whether it was smart to move ahead when the issue of Hickory by Choice is being readdressed by Studio Cascade during the same time frame. But, as Harry Hipps pointed out to me, "This stage is about art. It is about creating a logo. Studio Cascade's plan will come into play during the implementation phase when the signs are actually being placed. That has nothing to do with what the signs look like."

Harry Hipps participated in the focus group study of this issue and submitted an article on the Hound entitled - WAYFINDING - TRAFFIC AND GOVERNMENT. He had some very valid points in that article. He stated that this process could have been handled differently. He stated, "This is tailor made for citizen involvement."

First, we don't need a lot of interviews to determine what entities need a sign... Secondly, we will need different types of signs... so we know what we need as far as types of signs from this. Finally, the design of the logo itself, the colors, the images, etc...

What an opportunity this presents for citizen input. We could have a contest for someone to come up with the design. Local school art classes may be interested in trying out, graphic arts students at local colleges may want to try to be the winner so it would be a Resume enhancement for them. Local advertising agencies may try so they could get some bragging rights. Many people could then be focused on Hickory's image and what we are about and what we want to present to people. The artwork submissions could be submitted to a committee comprised of residents from our arts, engineering, academic, and other areas to narrow down the choices to be voted on by Council. This would generate more than artwork, it would generate participation in a City enterprise that is directly involved in defining who we are and what we want to be in this world.

When Council meets, few people attend or seem to care. It's a shame that participation and interest is so low. I think it is incumbent on the City government to do what it can to try to spark some interest from citizens and get us all working together for our common good. This would have been an opportunity to think outside the box.

I am glad that Mandy addressed the Wayfinding issue this morning, because I was starting to wonder what was going on. She said that a new logo has been developed that had several residents involved in its design. She also said that we are at the beginning of the process and there are still several steps left in the process. She said that the DOT still has to approve the design of many of the Wayfinding signs. She also reiterated that the project is being funded by the City Parking Fund, which was initially initiated to fund a new parking deck downtown.

The Hound hopes that the Wayfinding issue and Hickory By Choice are being tied in together. I also think this would be an opportune time to tie the Street Identification system in with this process. I liked Harry's proposal to get citizen's involved in the artistry and implementation of the Wayfinding system. I hope this happens where possible. In coming to the conclusion that it is time to start naming our streets, what better way to do that than to allow the citizens to name the streets and be integrally involved in the process.

If this were allowed to happen, then the Local Neighborhood Associations could begin working on the name Identifications of streets in their neighborhood or ward. We could have Naming Contests or sell Naming Rights to some streets to raise revenues. What I am proposing isn't a revolutionary, overnight adjustment; but rather an evolutionary, gradual compromise. We would still have the grid system, but we could put caps on the top of the old street signs with their new names on them. As the street signs aged and were replace, the old street signs would be replaced by signs with their new street name on them and would have the block number and city quadrant at the edge of the sign.

One thing that everyone has seen, over time, is that as our City has been further developed, the grid system has become more and more convoluted. "Street-Drive-Circle NE" obviously ain't working folks. I have heard that GPS Systems (like Tom-Tom) have a lot of trouble with their database when it comes to Hickory's Street Identification System. Let's move past the status quo and do something that I have come to the realization most of the people in this community want. Why fight it? Is it really worth fighting to hold onto the grid system, when so many people and so much evidence is pointing against it. Why be stubborn? Let's make the change. What do y'all think?