Where do I even start? I've been here once before but in a different lifetime. It was 2011 and I had just turned 30 and still living very free from responsibilities. I'd ended up in Copenhagen because I was doing a Europe trip with an ex-boyfriend and we'd negotiated a stop in CPH to watch the 2011 Road World Cycling Championships at his request to counter my desire to nerd out on transportation infrastructure. I'd always wanted to come here as it's the much beloved place for folks like me who worked in transportation. There were two superstars in my world at the time and their names were Jan Gahl and Janette Sadik-Khan and Copenhagen was the world of Jan Gahl. I'd spent much of my career at that point trying to reshape the space allocation of our "contested streets" both in Chicago and Portland. However, that 2011 trip BLEW MY MIND. I was very much a city person. I'd lived in cities. I visited cities. I explored cities. I worked on cities. I loved cities. But Copenhagen just felt different than any other city I'd been to. It was calm and quiet. It was easy. It was intentional. I know a city can't express emotion but I felt like the city loved and cared for me. I'd always wanted to come back to understand the best I can the secret recipe (or at least the ingredients) that just makes this city so special.
So now I'm here. I am fortunate to have the time and opportunity to try to understand why I love it so much and how we can apply some of this love and support to the American context. It's also 11 years later and I have a different job, hometown, and perspective. In the last 11 years the climate crisis is more serious, the US is more politically polarized and we've spent two+ years in a pandemic that has degraded so much of our social fabric and resulted in an endemic of loneliness and isolation. Plus my day-to-day is so different. I now live in Corvallis with a husband and 6-year old and work for the state DOT on very satisfying and important work but focused much less on cities and more around minimizing the policy barriers and supporting the funding so people who work on cities can do great work. So what's is like being back? Just as amazing and possibly better. Why? A thousand reasons and a much different culture.
I'm here for experiential learning which means a heck of a lot of the observation, thinking, talking, learning cycle. So let's start with observations in no particular order:
Electric Charging Infrastructure
I'm not a climate expert, I have zero opinions on charging infrastructure, and I do not think electric cars will save us. However, the next car I purchase will likely be electric and I'm a bit stressed out about the state of our charging infrastructure and it being kinda crummy unless we really prioritize and put some muscle behind it. I consider Copenhagen to be a look into a glass ball of what our future could look like and I was please to see just how easy the charging appears. It's just there. In neighborhoods. Bright and easy. I wouldn't be surprised if the folks that park in the ev charging spots pay less in parking fees.
Big Roads
This is not a city of narrow corridors. This place has some MONSTER right of way. There are a lot of roads that look pretty darn American. But somehow they keep the speeds down on them despite the width. Also, wide roads generally means big ped/bike infrastructure. And there are always buses. Buses and more buses.
Places for Play
What about kids? How do you live in a densely populated city with children? What do children need? Copenhagen has children everywhere and I absolutely love it. I live near an elementary school and a popular park in Corvallis and I love it. Being able to see and hear the energy and vibrancy of children has been such a mental pick-me-up through the Covid days. But while we access play via streets, streets here are transitioned to play spaces. Everything I'm seeing just makes sense but yet such a transition on how we have been thinking.
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