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Dover and Kohl said that American cities, including Janesville, used to build cities for walkability, ease of access and for community have now switched to designing streets primarily for parking, vehicle throughput and often at the expense of safety and livability.

The cities in Florida and Tennessee and even Amsterdam were examples of how communities have improved the quality of the streets by making them less car focused. They also used examples from Janesville’s downtown where walkability is encouraged to areas like the southside and Milton Avenue where it’s not as safe or connected.

Dover cited national crash data showing that when a pedestrian is struck by a vehicle traveling 20 miles an hour, there is about a 5% chance of a fatality. At 30 miles an hour, that risk rises to more than 50%, and at 40 miles an hour it increases to roughly 80%.

“We don’t call them accidents anymore,” Dover said. “If engineers design streets knowing crashes will happen, it’s hard to call that an accident.”

The speakers said street design decisions carry a public responsibility, noting that the U.S. The Constitution grants governments the authority, and obligation, to protect public health, safety and welfare.

“The biggest thing you own as residents isn’t your house or your car,” Dover said. “It’s your streets. That public realm is where community life happens.”

Kohl emphasized that walking and biking should be treated as core transportation options, not alternatives, particularly as cities face growth and space constraints.

“Walking and biking aren’t alternate modes; they’re the original modes,” Kohl said. “If you build parking lots and highways, people will drive everywhere. If you build bike lanes, sidewalks and transit, people will walk, bike and use transit.”

Beyond transportation, Dover and Kohl discussed how well-designed streets and public spaces contribute to health and longevity. They referenced research showing that daily, casual interactions with others, such as greeting a neighbor or a barista, are strongly linked to longer, healthier lives.

“Places become memorable because you see people and the things people make,” Dover said. “That’s what makes people want to return.”

Dover said decades of car-oriented planning replaced front porches and human-scale streets with driveways, garages and parking lots, reducing everyday social interaction and weakening neighborhood connections.

“We used to build places with buildings on the street and people on front porches,” he said. “Over time, we replaced those with driveways, parking lots and garage doors, and that changed how places work.”

Studer said CivicCon was created to encourage informed civic conversations before major decisions are made.

“The sole purpose is education,” Studer said. “When people understand the ‘why’ behind decisions, they have better conversations; even when they disagree.”

Studer emphasized that community engagement plays a critical role in shaping outcomes.

“The people who show up get to decide,” he said.

Cassandra Pope, organizer of the No Janesville Data Center said that she felt like this was a great event and is hopeful that conversations and more push to get more connectivity and walkability on the southside will happen.

“I think this is all great information that the South side’s been working to try to get for years,” she said. “If we can get this kind of community support behind these ideas, when it comes time to actually plan, we may actually be able to make that happen.”