City Nerd Nite: A forum for Anchorage community discussion

The Anchorage Assembly hosted an event for people passionate about Anchorage city projects and improvements: City Nerd Nite on May 30 at Akela Space.

The theme of this meeting was transportation. Speakers had seven minutes each to discuss their ideas for improving transportation in the municipality. 

This event occurred alongside the ribbon cutting on a new — temporary — protected bike lane and sixth avenue, a project intended to improve safety and ease of bicycle travel in downtown Anchorage.

In an interview with The Northern Light, the communications director for the Assembly and organizer of City Nerd Nite, Allie Hartman, said that the Assembly has been working on getting input from the community, especially younger Anchorage citizens. 

“We launched City Nerd Nite during the fall of last year, during housing action week, which was a week of programming … hosted around the topic of Anchorage’s housing shortage crisis … We had so much fun. And so in 2024 we decided to make it this series.”

Topics discussed at the meeting included issues surrounding pedestrian safety, snow removal, pedestrian accessibility on sidewalks and criticisms of urban planning methods such as traffic impact analysis and the 85th percentile speed. 

One of the speakers, Emily, proposed a bike system across town. 

Evan Leaf, a UAA civil engineering major, discussed his proposal for Anchorage to adopt a tram system to limit congestion, pollution, and safety hazards in the city — as well as to add a convenient transportation option for college students, the elderly, and anyone else that needs reliable transportation across town. 

He discussed how other countries and cities comparable to Anchorage have implemented a tram system with heated rails and snowplows to adapt to harsh winter conditions.

Speaker Mary Dean discussed “woonerfs,” streets designed to be shared by pedestrians, bicyclists and low-speed vehicles to improve city walkability — particularly in the winter months when the roads are less maintained. 

Assemblymember Daniel Volland spoke at the event about road ownership and maintenance responsibilities across the municipality, as well as emphasizing the pedestrian safety issues on our streets.

The meeting ended with a brief Q&A, which featured discussion about the history of racism in urban planning. One instance discussed was the  case of the Gambell-Ingra couplet, a high-speed road connecting to the Seward Highway that was built through the Fairview neighborhood.

A key takeaway of the meeting was Anchorage citizens wanting to see their city thrive in the future.

When asked what the Assembly does with the ideas discussed at Nerd Nite, Hartman said, “One of the key audiences of City Nerd Nite is really Assembly members as elected officials and policy makers. They are constantly just absorbing information and thinking about how they want to craft the vision of our city.”

“I, as a staff member, love to invite city nerds, as we call them, to submit opinion pieces in local publications and to keep that conversation going. So, if there's a really good idea or a good nugget … trying to give those ideas some legs,” Hartman said.

To engage with Anchorage issues and legislation, visit the municipality’s website, sign up for the Assembly newsletter or contact the office of legislative services with your ideas or opinions at wwmasls@anchorageak.gov. 

Live streams of City Nerd Nites can be found at the Assembly’s YouTube channel. The next City Nerd Nite will occur in August.