PHOENIX — For decades, a South Phoenix neighborhood kept asking for the same simple thing: a sidewalk. And for decades, the answer kept coming back — "no" — not because neighbors opposed it, but because silence counted against them in the city's process. Now, after years of persistence and one critical tweak to the process, that long fight is finally paying off.
This week, the first stretch of sidewalk was completed right in front of 90-year-old Ms. Lottie Lecian’s home, a woman who’s been part of the push since the very beginning.
It’s a milestone moment for a community that refused to give up, even when the system made progress nearly impossible.
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Neighbors organized through People United Fight Back, gathered petitions, and worked with the city to change a rule that once treated non-responses to neighborhood improvement projects as an automatic “no.” Once that became an automatic “yes,” a decades-long stalemate turned into real, visible change.
This is a story about patience, persistence, and what happens when a community keeps showing up long enough to reshape the rules and make their neighborhood safer for everyone.
Watch the full story in the video player above.
