My Elevator Pitch: Why People-Focused Cities Are Better
Last week, I was contacted by a reporter from Civil Beat (https://www.civilbeat.org/) asking me about my proposal I submitted to the Honolulu City Charter. In preparation for the conversation, I decided to write a quick elevator pitch for why I think people-focused cities are better. After writing it, I decided it probably makes for a good blog post…So here it is! The article is supposedly due out next week, so I’ll link to it once it arrives!
Thanks so much for taking interest in this proposal. What inspired me to submit it is really pretty simple: our city (and our world really) should be designed for people, not cars. When you prioritize cars above all else, you end up with streets that are dangerous, unwelcoming, and detrimental to the local economy. That’s exactly what we’re seeing here in Honolulu — traffic fatalities have spiked dramatically this year, with O‘ahu’s 2025 traffic deaths, we’ve already passed the number of traffic deaths from last year, and pedestrians disproportionately impacted.
I live in on the other side of the island from my company’s main office. Many times I’ve tried to figure out: can I get to work without a car? I’ve looked at combinations of buses, biking, skyline, and even my wife driving me part of the way. The fastest way that I can get to work without a car is 3 hours and 15 minutes. Know how long it would take if I just biked the whole way? 3.5 hours. I only save 15 minutes by riding the bus. It’s crazy.
Before I lived here, I actually lived in Korea and Japan for 10 years. I never owned a car. And that’s not because they ban cars or anything, they just have REALLY good public transportation. It’s easier to get around by train and bus than it is with a car. They don’t have to enforce rules around cars if you just have solid public transportation.
In the US, people look at you like you’re crazy if you tell them your dream is to live without owning a car. We live in a system that REQUIRES cars when it doesn’t have to, and since most of us have never been to Europe or Asia, we can’t even imagine a world where public transportation works.
This is why I submitted that charter amendment. A charter amendment that formalizes people-first design — where walking, biking, and transit are prioritized — can help shift the way we plan for safety, health, and community.
Look at other places that have taken similar visions seriously:
- Times Square in New York — when car traffic was removed and the plaza redesigned for people, pollution dropped sharply and pedestrian safety improved, and all the local businesses began thriving since now you had lots of foot traffic going right by the shops. It’s a perfect example of how shifting street space can benefit public health and quality of life, and the economy. It was better for everyone – the local people and the tourists.
- Paris dramatically expanded bike infrastructure and reduced car dominance — and over a decade this correlates with significant increases in cycling trips and big declines in injuries, fatalities, and pollution. By just adding a lot of bike infrastructure and limiting where cars can go, there’s been a 50% decrease in car traffic. Doubling of cycling riders. Cleaner air. Less injuries. Community spaces where people make friends and shop, which supports the local economy.
Cities that prioritize people don’t just reduce crashes — they thrive. They have cleaner air, healthier residents, more vibrant local economies, and streets that draw people together rather than push them apart. Even public health research shows that walkable environments get people moving more — for example, residents in walkable cities take more than 1,000 extra steps per day on average, which adds up to major improvements in health outcomes.
Now imagine this in Waikīkī, one of the most visited places on the planet: Instead of traffic congestion and narrow sidewalks stacked with tourists trying to cross busy roads, imagine Kalakaua Ave was just a wide shaded pedestrian boulevards linking beaches, shops, and cultural spaces. Local businesses — from cafés to surf shops to galleries — would benefit from higher foot traffic and linger time, not just intermittent car parking. Tourists would enjoy safer, slower streets, and locals would have vibrant community spaces to walk, bike, gather, and commute without all the smog and speeding, noisy cars.
That’s the vision this charter amendment supports — a Safer, Healthier, and More Prosperous Honolulu where streets are designed first for people, then for cars.
