highway removal

Federal transportation leaders are doling out billions of dollars to reconnect communities torn apart by highways. How exactly they should do it, though, is a matter of fierce debate — and some advocates say that even the most radical solutions aren't radical at all when seen through the lens of the radical harm that racialized and low-income communities are still enduring. 

On today's epsiode of "The Brake," we sit down with Alex Burns and José Antonio Zayas Cabán of the nonprofit Our Street Minneapolis to talk about why they're fighting to turn two highways in their region  into boulevards, and why they don't accept "band-aid" compromises like pedestrian bridges and cap-and-cover projects. And along the way, they share some wisdom on how other advocates can encourage their own communities to dream bigger. 

Tim Corcoran is the Director of Planning and Community Resources for the City of South Bend, a community that has undergone some difficult but instructive changes in the last several decades. Tim talks with our hosts about what South Bend has had to learn as its economy has shifted, where it finds opportunities for rejuvenation and redevelopment, and what an award winning reform to their zoning code actually means for people in his city.

Referenced in this episode:

Public Square, A CNU Journal: Revitalization begins with cloverleaf demolition plan

WVPE-FM: South Bend wins award for innovative zoning policy — but what does that mean?

University of Notre Dame Stories: Community by Design