Mobilizing residents to shape a more livable Little Rock for all.
By Chloe Chapman
Many people care deeply about Little Rock and are eager to see improvements in various areas, but enhancing collaboration is essential for lasting impact. Our Little Rock is one movement on the scene that offers a path for grassroots urbanism to take hold.
“Why would you move to Little Rock?”
As a transplant, this was one of the more common questions I was asked by both those who lived here and from out of state. As time went on, I felt a pang within me — you’re talking about my home and the home of more than 200,000 others who are raising families here, working and living their lives. More people should be saying, “Welcome!” or “Lucky you!” But as I looked around me I saw what others may be seeing when they think of Little Rock: an abandoned downtown overrun by vacant properties and empty parking lots, miles of high-speed, 4-plus-lane lane roadway with people waiting for the bus on tufts of grass or walking along dirt paths or asphalt, and small pockets of lively commercial districts with fragmented bike pathways and sidewalks providing fractured connectivity to neighborhoods and other parts of the city.
Our Little Rock hosts Community Conversations monthly. - Photo by Chloe Chapman
Rather than shrug and move along with my day, I started to get out and meet with people who are actively working to better understand the infrastructure and social ecosystems at play. I talked with people working in private, public and nonprofit sectors focused on sustainability, urban planning, architecture and public transit. I was also wrapping up my certified facilitator course with the Arkansas Public Administrators Consortium (APAC) and put my newfound skills into practice with a public dialogue on what small steps would move the needle forward for a more livable Little Rock for all. My takeaway: There are a lot of people who care about Little Rock and want to see it improve in these areas, but there’s work to be done to improve collaboration for a lasting impact and accessibility to how to participate in the process.
The Local-Motive Tour
Around the same time, Strong Towns, a national nonprofit organization helping locals shape more resilient cities and towns, was also kicking off its second annual “Local-Motive Tour.” This eight-session webinar series was created for concerned citizens who saw similar urban development issues and were looking for a place to start. The series talked with changemakers across the country who were successful in making changes and shared some basic tools and guidelines to try out in our own communities. This series sparked an idea to test the following hypothesis: “Is it possible to build a community that cares about Little Rock, provide a platform for exploration and collaboration, and take small steps together to make a positive impact on livability for residents throughout Little Rock?”
For this experiment, we needed:
A public meeting space — one that was accessible and welcoming. Local brewpub, Stone’s Throw, in the heart of a walkable historic district in Downtown Little Rock, was a prime candidate.
Some icebreakers. As far as I knew, these conversations weren’t yet happening, so it’ll be new territory with new faces. I wanted to create a place where people could get to know each other and feel comfortable asking and answering questions. For this, we had an analog LinkedIn board where attendees could draw their self portrait and connect lines to other people they knew.
To ground these conversations with local insight and expertise. To help fast-track how we could get involved and prevent anyone from recreating the wheel, professionals immersed in the existing systems of transportation, housing, land-use and public spaces were invited to share their insights and answer questions after each webinar.
Topics we explored were: land-use economics, effective communication with city officials, personal storytelling, safe road design, pushing back on freeway expansion, right-sized housing where you want it and improving public transit. For each conversation, we had local representatives from the city of Little Rock, WER Architects, Garver, Mike Orndorff Construction, Habitat for Humanity, Rock Region Metro, America Walks, Alzheimer’s Arkansas, Chicot Elementary, Downtown Dwellings and Traffic Engineering Consultants (TEC).
Over the course of the series, 65 Little Rock residents showed up and actively participated, and as we were wrapping up, many asked what was next. There was also strong interest in learning more and putting some of the ideas we discussed into action.
Enthusiasts collaborate with Pedal Party, a weekly Monday bike ride.
- Photo by Chloe Chapman
Establishing the Organization
Once the series wrapped, some ideas were beginning to gel. First was a theory of change that livability began with the people who live here becoming aware of their place, developing a sense of care to want to engage and collaborate, and taking action to make a positive change. The name for the organization, Our Little Rock, was born from this theory. Even though this city is divided into seven wards, it is all part of our city — we’re on the same team. And a lot of our team is living in areas that are identified as disadvantaged community tracts due to transportation insecurity, environmental health issues, low-income and high-cost of living, to name just a few. Things that, if they were addressed, could have a big impact on quality of life for all of our residents. There were some unaddressed gaps in community engagement and public space design and development, leading to establishing a mission to build a network of residents who have stronger community connections, a deeper understanding of people-oriented places, and the tools to shape their neighborhoods to be safe, resilient and joyful.
Secondly, livability is multifaceted and, if we are to shape a place for all to thrive, we need perspectives of lived experiences across geographies, income levels, sectors, ages, race and abilities. It’s a subject area that requires a full-time staff to do authentic public engagement, advocate, educate and serve as a resource for more people-oriented places. It also needs to have services and events that are accessible and available to all. To do this well, the organization needs the ability to raise money from donations and grants. This led us to the decision to become a 501(c)(3).
By December 2023, we had a board of directors representing constituents from across the city advocating for children, the 55-plus community, people with disabilities and those living car-free. And by March of this year, we had a strategic plan in place.
Over three years, we aim to enable:
Enhanced civic engagement through dialogue across lived experiences and perspectives. We aim to shift Little Rock’s urban development narrative and priorities to be more people-centered by offering fun, engaging and accessible (aka low-cost and jargon-free) opportunities with tangible impact and results.
Equitable mobility options that allow people of all abilities and income levels to safely walk, bike and roll. Currently, about 89% of our population commutes alone by car. We aim to encourage and enable safe, convenient and viable transportation options beyond the single-user private vehicle. We aim to do this by empowering residents, especially those living in underserved areas and/or underrepresented populations in the city, to initiate road safety, signage and public transit infrastructure initiatives.
Productive land use that promotes more walkable neighborhoods with housing options for all stages of life. Currently, Little Rock has a walk score of 33/100, meaning that most daily activities require a car. Our aim is to unlock barriers for infill developers so we can have residents accomplish more errands on foot.
Early Actions
We’re already getting started! This year we’ve been building out our communications channels to include an active social media presence and weekly newsletters to highlight transportation and land-use initiatives across the city and now have a mailing list of more than 250 and over 1,000 Instagram followers (sign up and follow to make it more).
The Public Bus Pub Crawl kicks off at the transit center. - Photo by Chloe Chapman
We did a lot of outreach and information sharing on the current Downtown Little Rock Master Plan engagement process and early ideas on policies, programs and projects that could fast-track Little Rock to embrace new urbanism development in its urban core. We collaborated with the Historic District Commission and City Planning Department to deepen appreciation for a local historic district and have more informed local input on the new MacArthur Park Historic District Design Guidelines. We also were the community outreach and marketing partner for a traffic calming project hosted by America Walks and the Pettaway Neighborhood Association, which resulted in a well-attended community workshop and pop-up party to set up a tactical urbanism demonstration of tires, painted crosswalks and bulbouts, and temporary road signage. And, most importantly, slowed down traffic and made it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists to cross the street in their neighborhood. We’ve also plugged into current place-making groups like studioMAIN, Downtown Little Rock Partnership’s Public Spaces Committee and Pedal Party to amplify community engagement opportunities, encourage deeper collaboration and coordination, and highlight the interconnectedness of each group’s efforts to a broader audience.
One of our most well-attended recent events was our Public Bus Pub Crawl. This was the brainchild of a few transit advocates who attended the Local-Motive Tour. Little Rock’s Rock Region Metro shared that if we wanted to improve our local transit, it would start by riding the bus. So we did, and invited others to join us on a four-hour excursion from the transit center to three suburban commercial districts and back. The 45 people who showed up barely made it on a single bus. Since the ride, several have reached out to us sharing that they incorporated the bus into a weekend trip and a weekly commute to work. Others are exploring DIY bus bench-making activities. We’re excited to continue to pull this thread to see how local efforts can improve the culture and infrastructure for public transit in Little Rock.
Now We Can Say:
“Why Don’t You Want to Live in Little Rock?!”
If you love and care about Little Rock and want to be proactive in making it better, we are here for it. Rest assured there is a growing group of people like you who are learning from each other, sharing resources and contacts, and taking actions to shape this city into one we can be proud to live in and where all belong.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter for all things people-oriented urban design and development. We’re also pretty active on Instagram and Facebook, so feel free to give us a follow there, too.
Attend one of our events. Each month you can join other new urbanism enthusiasts in a welcoming and optimistic environment. Expect us to host a Community Conversation, inspired by Strong Town’s bottom-up, incremental approach to more resilient neighborhoods, Urbanist Book Club, where we read and talk about books that reimagine how city design can improve the well being of its residents, and one or two Urbanist Lunch & Learns where we will stream out-of-state webinars (e.g. offered by Congress for New Urbanism, SmartGrowth America, etc.) in a local public space to spark conversation amongst peers.
Become a member! We have individual, family and organizational level tiers. Members drive our newsletter, community conversations and monthly hours of action.
Our Little Rock is a nonprofit education and advocacy organization for a more livable Little Rock for all. In addition to our communications platforms and action-oriented events, we offer mission-aligned community outreach and marketing, facilitation, event planning and project management services for urban design and development initiatives. The organization is a Strong Towns Local Conversation Group, a Road to Zero Coalition Member and a CivicArkansas Activator. You can learn more about the organization at ourlittlerock.org.