Practice Spotlight
How to Build Support for Civic Infrastructure with City Council Candidates
Interesting and innovative public space practices
In Cincinnati, the Civic Commons team is focused on creating a safer active transportation network, enhancing the city’s green spaces and reconnecting neighborhoods to one another and downtown. Investments like these depend on the support of a wide coalition of people, from neighborhood residents to community groups to elected leaders.
The convening organization of Cincinnati’s Civic Commons efforts, Tri-State Trails, has come up with an innovative and impactful way to build support for civic infrastructure investments among elected leaders — even before they’re elected. We highlight that practice today.
The Practice: Meet the Candidates Ride
Tri-State Trails hosted its first Meet the Candidates Ride in 2017. The event was designed to get city council candidates on bikes during campaign season, showcasing biking conditions and building relationships that would lead to change. Although Cincinnati’s event focuses on cycling infrastructure, the practice could apply to any civic advocacy effort in which an on-site experience could shift an elected official’s perspective. For example, candidates could take a walking tour of neighborhood public spaces or a kayaking tour of community waterways.
In Cincinnati, cycling infrastructure on city streets was controversial when the Meet the Candidates Ride started, with public discourse often focusing on the impacts on vehicular travel lanes and parking. Progress toward safer cycling was slow. “City council was reacting to what was coming to them,” said Wade Johnston, Tri-State Trails’ executive director. “We wanted to make the issue more proactive. And we wanted candidates to experience biking in Cincinnati. I don’t think you can fully understand an issue until you have experienced it yourself.”
In collaboration with Red Bike and Queen City Bike, Tri-State Trails planned a ride that featured everything from best-in-class bikeways to streets that could use a major upgrade. In total, about 80 people — including 13 out of 24 city council candidates — joined for the first event. “We made it a campaign event. We wanted to raise this issue for candidates before they were elected and we wanted to show there’s a constituency for cycling,” Johnston said. “It worked. That first year, a majority of candidates, including five out of nine future council members, joined the ride.”
In the years since, the city has seen more cycling infrastructure go into place, and there are now strong advocates for biking and walking on the city council and in the mayor’s office. The ride has also shifted the city’s inauguration traditions. In 2022, Mark Jeffreys, one of the candidates who participated in the previous year’s Meet the Candidates Ride, suggested organizing a bike ride to the mayoral inauguration. Four city council members and newly elected Mayor Aftab Pureval participated, sending a strong message in support of cycling. The inauguration ride was repeated and expanded in 2024, with seven of nine city council members biking a four-mile route that included a major cycling facility the council had recently funded.
“Participating in the Meet the Candidates Ride has been an eye-opening experience for me as an elected official. Riding with constituents on trails, bike lanes and with traffic has helped me better understand what infrastructure we should be funding in the City budget. People feel safest when they are fully separated from car traffic.” — City of Cincinnati Council Member Meeka Owens
Lessons Learned
- Showcase what’s working — and what needs more support. On the six-mile Meet the Candidates route, candidates experience a mix of bikeway types and roadway conditions, helping them see what’s working and where there’s room to improve. The team has adjusted the route over the years to draw attention to new priority areas and highlight the council’s accomplishments, making their legislative decisions tangible. They also plan for safety, avoiding hazardous streets and intersections.
- Make it easy for candidates to say “yes.” To boost participation, the team invites every council candidate, emphasizing that the event is non-partisan. When inviting sitting elected officials, they communicate with campaign teams rather than city staff. They schedule the event well in advance, avoid conflicts with other community events, keep the route short (an hour to 90 minutes) and offer to provide necessary equipment such as bikes and helmets. Finally, to be responsive to the candidates’ campaign needs, the event includes an opportunity for each candidate to speak, and a photographer takes publicity photos at pre-arranged locations along the route, such as city hall.
- Remember, it’s a long game. The event can quickly demonstrate to candidates the current state of civic infrastructure and the significance of the types of investments you are advocating for. But progress toward a revitalized and connected public realm happens bit by bit. It’s important to see the event as a way to build relationships with candidates while spurring action and investment over time.
The Upshot
Tri-State Trails hosted the fourth Meet the Candidates Ride in 2023, and Johnston has seen how events like this can shift elected officials’ approaches to cycling infrastructure. “So many candidates walk away saying, ‘That was fun!’ And we’re like, ‘We know. This is how we get to work. It can be fun every day,’” Johnston said. “Through this ride, they start to see the benefits, challenges and opportunities.”
Reimagining the Civic Commons is a collaboration of The JPB Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and local partners.
