You won\u2019t see any more artistic crosswalks or street art in Tallahassee or anywhere else in Florida because of a new state law.<\/p>\n
The Florida Department of Transportation sent removal notices to municipalities over the summer, saying the change was necessary for safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not doing the commandeering of the roads to put up messaging,\u201d Gov. Ron Desantis said in August.<\/p>\n
A weekly deep dive into Tallahassee’s most talked about news topic. Hosted by Gina Jordan every Thursday.<\/p>\n
DeSantis said street art of any kind will not be tolerated under the law. \u201cThey’re doing it uniformly throughout the state. I think the street art got out of hand. I think it’s much better that we use crosswalks and streets for their intended purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeSantis said the new law includes public roadways, intersections, crosswalks, and sidewalks. Over 400 street art locations were targeted for removal statewide.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason we started our artistic crosswalk initiative is we were looking at ways to improve safety; safety for the drivers, but also safety for pedestrians and people cycling or looking at different ways to get to school,\u201d says Betsy Couch, executive director of Knight Creative Communities Institute (KCCI). \u201cOne thing we found is there was international and domestic data that showed that artistic crosswalks improve safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEach year our KCCI projects are different, and the year we did the crosswalks near schools and in neighborhoods that were artistic, that was with the goal to improve safety, and it worked,\u201d Couch says. \u201cThey slowed down traffic, they improved traffic compliance, and the neighbors and the kids loved them.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the crosswalk art has been removed, Couch says there are many other options to beautify Tallahassee. KCCI is on a mission to enhance placemaking through citizen-driven projects. One of the ways they do that is through KCCI Community Catalysts<\/a>. KCCI is now accepting applications<\/a> from anyone interested in being part of the program.<\/p>\n \u201cResearch shows that communities that have strong sense of place and also where their citizens feel attracted to and attached to their community — those communities fare better economically. They also have greater rates of talent retention and talent attraction,\u201d Couch says. \u201cIt’s a lot of benefits when you have communities with strong placemaking.\u201d<\/p>\n