We remember 17 years ago when Fred Kent from Project for Public Spaces first came to Sag Harbor. He spoke in the sanctuary of the Methodist Church and told people how they could make their community a more peaceful and pedestrian friendly place with what he called “traffic calming.”

Traffic calming.

In the nearly two decades since he was here, a phrase that sounded so incongruous, so new–agey has become so much a part of municipal planning vernacular that even the New York State Department of Transportation has embraced it. Who of us can forget that Sag Harbor and North Haven were the recipients of the very first “traffic calming” makeover by the DOT in the state’s history. The roundabout in North Haven — which most, we feel comfortable in saying, would agree  — is a far cry better than the blinking light that existed before. The success in those projects came from the community working with the DOT to identify and resolve problems in each neighborhood along Route 114.

The point here is that Fred Kent and his organization, which has helped about 2500 communities world wide make their public places more inviting, are not to be taken lightly. They are visionary and have clearly proved to be inspirational.

That said, for them to have had an effect on Sag Harborites this time around, there will need to be a champion; someone or some group who has been inspired and is willing to take on the task of motivating people to establish and pursue whatever goals the community feels are warranted. Unless some group or individual is prepared to hire Project for Public Spaces, there will need to be someone to take the lead and do the “homework” Kent suggested.

If there is the will — and we say “if” recognizing this is a big job — we suggest as broad based a group as possible, and one with ties to the school community. A committee of school board members along with the PTA and PTSA and neighborhood residents would seem appropriate.

We like the idea of thinking of the two school properties as a campus and recognize the school has an obligation to be a good neighbor. Like the state’s traffic calming projects, success here will come from stake holders identifying and solving problems together.

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