Birmingham Engineer, Planning Board Member Pushes Complete Street at Conference

Scott Clein, president of the Birmingham-based Giffels Webster and member of the Birmingham Planning Board, will address American transportation infrastructure, missed opportunities to build Complete Streets and the quality of life in our communities at the 49th Annual International Making Cities Livable Conference. The conference will be held at the Governor Hotel in Portland, Ore., May 20–24.

“As an advocate for thriving communities, I believe that how we design for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists plays a critical role in downtown revitalization,” said Clein. “My reason for working towards this fundamental change in how we view and design our roadways is because we deserve better than what we are getting to date. The current philosophy for designing surface streets is truly hindering our ability to fully enhance our communities.”

Clein has worked on numerous projects in southeast Michigan to help improve the quality of life for those who live, work and play in local communities. Project examples include the Corktown-Mexicantown-Southwest Detroit Greenlink, the non-motorized transportation master plan for the city of Detroit, the Woodward Avenue Non-Motorized Transportation Master Plan for the Woodward Avenue Action Association (WA3), and many more.

The theme for the 2012 IMCL Conference is “True Urbanism: Planning Healthy Communities for All.” It will focus on ways to reshape the built environment to increase physical and social health and well-being. The conference will bring together 350-400 delegates - elected officials, practitioners and scholars in planning, public health, urban design, landscape architecture, transportation planning, pediatrics, human development, social sciences, land use development and architecture from around the world.