Boost local businesses

When you design streets exclusively for cars, all you get is traffic. When you design them for people, you get all the things that come along with that: community, leisure, connection, recreation, commerce and celebration. If you’ve ever despaired that the only place to really “hang out” these days are soulless shopping malls, it’s because they’ve completely replaced our streets as the centres of our towns – except their priority is commerce, not community. If you’d like to see the life return to your neighbourhood, the best place to start is in the streets. And what’s good for our streets is also good for business: studies have shown* that people walking or riding a bicycle spend more money in local retailers than people arriving by car.

Over time we’ve allowed our streets to become noisy, traffic-filled roads, which keeps us from enjoying the businesses and activities on offer. Noisy, dangerous traffic puts people off spending time on a high street, which dampens economic activity. Ever notice the streets that are busy with traffic are usually also lined with “For Lease” signs in shop windows? That’s no coincidence. It sets off a vicious cycle of under investment in streetscapes by local councils (“Why bother? No one goes there anyway!”), lower patronage and more retail vacancies. Streets with lower pedestrian activity are perceived as less safe, further draining life from the area. Pretty soon the street feels too far gone to save.

This really relies on momentum, which generally has to start with governments (state and local) stepping in to provide a mix of:

• More pedestrian crossings in the places where people want to cross 

• Traffic calming and safer speeds

• Space for people to walk and rest on wider pavements and plazas

• Easy access by bike and plenty of bike parking

• ​Traffic-free shopping streets and days

• Plants, planters and street furniture

Let your community take their better street for a test run by organising a street party. Easy-to-follow guides are available from City of Sydney (link) and the Department of Planning (link).

Why? Because streets we want to spend time (and money) in are streets worth celebrating!

If you’d like to bring your local group or other organisation into the Better Streets coalition, and help boost local business in your neighbourhood, contact us.

Lee, A., & March, A. (2010). Recognising the economic role of bikes: sharing parking in Lygon Street, Carlton. Australian Planner, 47(2), 85–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/07293681003767785

Rogers, A. 'Bike Lanes are good for business', Business Insiders, accessed: 23 August 2024, from https://www.businessinsider.com/bike-lanes-good-for-business-studies-better-streets-2024-3

• Darby Street, Newcastle NSW

• Crown Street Surry Hills. NSW

• Flora Street, Sutherland NSW

• Baylis Street, Wagga Wagga NSW

• Lygon Street, Carlton VIC

• Rokeby Road, Perth WA

• South Terrace, Freemantle WA

• Langtree mall, Mildura VIC

• Fallick lane, Queanbeyan NSW