Last week, Brent Toderian – thought-leader, city planner, and urbanist based in Vancouver – tweeted this question: “If you had the power to ban just one thing from cities in order to make them MUCH better, OTHER THAN CARS (too easy), what would that one thing be?”
And it went viral, getting 4.5K+ responses – causing it to trend on Twitter. Following his lead, we took to our own social media accounts to ask the same question (with a slight, “more positive” spin on the verbiage).
So, LAL Citizens: If you had the power to change just one thing in Lakeland in order to make it MUCH better, what would that one thing be? With 300+ comments and 15+ shares, here’s what some of you said:
- “An indoor market with pop-up restaurants that is open 7 days a week instead of just Sunday.” – Jorge R.
- “Helping the homeless get jobs and housing” – @sadiehudson3
- “More free or cheap activities for little kids and their families.” – @andinthatmoment
- “Frequent and easily accessible public transit would change this city tremendously. I have been all over this country and the cities that are thriving.....have great public transit! 👏 It will bring jobs, give more accessibility to those without cars to go to work, or shop. It will overall boost Lakeland’s economy. I also believe if we are the city between Tampa and Orlando with thriving public transit, we can grow tourism here. Win win win win win!” – @thespringhouse
- “We need more basketball courts.” – @retro1920
- “Widen the streets to accommodate the growing population. Why is this whole town 2 lanes?! Oh, and have more things open after 8-9 p.m.” – @thestebbinos
- “Mandatory recycling for residential and businesses, and develop markets for recycled products. Efforts to ban styrofoam and plastic for one-use, or at least strongly limit it and have effective disposal systems.” – Becky A.
- “Supporting local businesses and restaurants more than the chains and a little more bike-commuter friendly!” – @mantzal
- “Continuing education programs for adults. There is almost nothing offered in Lakeland. USF has been very successful in Tampa with their OLLI life-long learning program.” – Elana P.
- “A tool lending library!” – @e.fergs
- “The trolley through downtown areas and areas surrounding downtown on weekends so people could park anywhere and catch the trolley into the heart of downtown and back afterwards.” – Vicki V. P.
Didn’t get a chance to share your answer with us? Let us know on our Twitter, Facebook or Instagram posts.