I love the new traffic calming features in my neighborhood. I’ve mostly stopped saying so out loud.
Every time I’ve let it slip, whether at school drop-off or at the library, someone has taken that as an invitation to spend 10 minutes telling me why they hate them. It’s made me nervous to share the things I care about with my community, and that’s a sad place to be.
These exchanges remind me how easy it is to be against something. Personal inconvenience is a complete argument, and there’s a ready-made list of objections: cost, parking, “neighborhood character,” and the objection du jour, “we weren’t engaged enough.” Some of those concerns are fair. But raising them costs almost nothing and shifts the burden onto the people who are for it, who must defend every detail.
Being for something is hard. It usually means change, which brings risk and, for some, fear. You have to do the research, gather the evidence and always be prepared. You have to put an idea out there and let people pick it apart. It takes more than a yard sign, a Facebook post and a public comment. It takes time, relationships and the patience to keep showing up long after the signs come down.
That’s why I so admire the Oak Park Climate Action Network (OPCAN), which formed to make sure Climate Ready Oak Park, the village’s climate plan, didn’t end up on a shelf. OPCAN looks at every village issue through a climate lens. While the Shape Oak Park debate has centered on single-family homes, OPCAN’s statement asked what the zoning changes would mean for our climate.
OPCAN treats trustees and village staff as partners, not adversaries. Its relationships at village hall mean that when OPCAN brings a policy proposal or budget recommendation, people listen. Members commit time and expertise to public service, running for office and volunteering for village commissions and school committees.
They meet every week because that’s what being for something takes. When I’ve attended, members with different perspectives aren’t afraid to debate the best approach, but the conversation stays respectful because everyone shares the same goal: net-zero emissions by 2050. You won’t find them fighting in Facebook comments; the work happens in person (or on Zoom). And they celebrate their wins, usually with a potluck.
Those wins add up. OPCAN pushed the village to hire its first chief sustainability officer and to create grants and rebates that help residents electrify their homes. It also championed the all-electric new-construction ordinance, the first in the Midwest, which a federal judge upheld this summer.
Oak Parkers pride themselves on being progressive, but progress is never finished; it’s the constant work of trading one set of problems for a more interesting set. We won’t get there by saying no, or even maybe. We have to find ways to say yes, and only then does the hard work really begin.
So the next time someone tells me what they’re against, I’m going to ask what they’re for. Because whether it’s our climate, the safety of our children on our streets or the affordability of our community, doing nothing is not an option.
