Hi Car-Lite Advocates,
Happy 2024! We’re excited about all that we got done in 2023 and for what’s ahead in the coming year!
TL;DR:
Our first meeting of the year will be
Date: Sunday 1/14
Time: Noon
Location: Ma N Pa Grocery
We will discuss:
- Our meeting cadence for the upcoming year.
- At our last meeting we talked about wanting to pick 1-3 proactive initiatives to work toward in 2024. This will complement the mostly reactionary work we do around council and committee meetings. Survey link is here – we want your input!
Our friends at the newly formed Long Beach Bike Co-op (@long_beach_bike_co_op on instagram) will be hosting a bike repair event on 1/21, 10am – 1pm at Gaucho Beach. Stop by to learn how to fix your bike and/or share the skills you have with the community!
Big thanks to Alex Standke who made us a shiny new website! It’s on carlitelb.org.
2023 Recap
As we embark on 2024, we want to remind you of our past accomplishments and how much it means to us that you are part of Car-Lite Long Beach. Over the past year we’ve accomplished a lot, but here are some highlights:
- Attended and provided public comment at numerous Long Beach City Council, Planning Commission, MPI (Mobility, Ports & Infrastructure), LA Metro, and various community and neighborhood association meetings.
- We were awarded a $700 grant from City Fabrick to conduct community engagement regarding transportation in the Downtown and Shoreline Village areas of Long Beach. Over 80 respondents contributed to our transportation survey!
- Through our efforts in attending the FY24 budget hearings, Public Works confirmed the Vision Zero Coordinator (FTE) position will be filled by three employees in their department for FY24. They also publicly announced that they will be increasing bike share hubs and deploying more bikeshare bikes from the overall inventory.
- Organized 5 bike lane and neighborhood cleanup events supported by the Environmental Services Bureau. That’s at least 20 contractor bags of debris removed from our bikeways, streets and beaches!
- We have grown our community. Our Slack is up to 56 members, our Instagram to 229 followers, and our X/Twitter to 57 followers. Let’s keep going!
Of course, none of this would have been able to have happened without the folks who keep the lights on here at Car-Lite with a budget of $0. Thank you to the core members who help us maintain our Slack, website, multiple social media accounts, newsletters, email list, t-shirts, stickers, a google drive account with countless documents and data. We could not do it without your collective help.
Upcoming Events: Save the Dates!
Monthly Meeting 1/14: Our next in-person meeting is Sunday, January 14, 2024 from 12p-2p at Ma’N’Pa Grocery located at 346 Roycroft Ave, Long Beach, CA 90814. We want to use this as an opportunity for newcomers to meet people in person. We will be looking at goals for 2024. The agenda and previous meeting notes can be found here.
In-person meetings are every 2nd Sunday of the month 12pm-2pm. Meeting reminders are sent the week before and are posted on social media.
Long Beach Bike Co-Op Event 1/21: Our friends at the newly formed Long Beach Bike Co-op (@long_beach_bike_co_op on instagram) will be hosting a bike repair event on 1/21, 10am – 1pm at Gaucho Beach. Stop by to learn how to fix your bike and/or share the skills you have with the community!
Keep an eye on this calendar for upcoming events and activities.
Member Feedback: Your Input Matters
We want to ensure our advocacy efforts continue to gain momentum. Please take our Goals and Initiatives survey for 2024. The survey will close after 11:59pm on Friday, January 12, 2023. We will use the results of the survey to inform goal-setting for 2024 during our in-person meeting on January 14.
Connect with Us: Social Media and Beyond
Stay connected with fellow members and the broader car-lite movement through our Slack and social media channels. To get on Slack, please email: [email protected] or DM on Instagram. Follow @carlitelb on X, Threads or Instagram. Share your experiences, photos, and thoughts using our official hashtag #CarLiteLB .
Wishing you a wonderful month ahead, filled with car-lite adventures and meaningful connections.
Sincerely,
Kerry Beth Larick
Organizer
Car-Lite Long Beach
Leave a Reply