October 12 is Regional Walk Day!

Tweet

Our family will be walking through the woods this weekend, but if yours in town check out one of these neighborhood walks sponsored by WalkSanDiego:

Chula Vista: 9:30 a.m., Meet at Rice Elementary School, SE corner of L Street 4th Avenue
El Cajon: 9:30 a.m., Meet at Lexington Elementary School, 533 S 1st Street
Encinitas: 3:00 p.m., Meet at San Dieguito Academy, back parking lot, at intersection of Nardo and Melba Escondido: 9:30 a.m., Meet at Maple Street Plaza
La Mesa: 9:00 a.m., Meet at Starbucks, 8138 La Mesa Blvd
Lemon Grove: 9:00 a.m., Meet at Firemen's Park, intersection of Central Avenue and School Lane
San Diego: Grant Hill neighborhood, 9:00 a.m., Meet at Market Street & 25th Street
San Diego: Mission Hills neighborhood, 9:30 a.m. Meet at Gelato Vero Caffe, 3753 India Street
San Diego: City Heights and Mid-City neighborhoods, 2:00 p.m., Meet at Park De La Cruz, 3901 Landis Street, in front of the restrooms
Vista: 9:30 a.m., Meet at the Avo Playhouse in Vista Village, 303 Main Street

Sign up and get more info here. 

Today is International Walk to School Day

Tweet

Check out this site for info about nearly 500 events at California schools. Don't see your school listed? There's information about how to start a program at your school on the website as well. 

San Diego Mayoral Candidate Speaker Series

Tweet

It's back to square one in the search for a San Diego mayor, but hopefully not for pedestrians in our city. If you'd like to learn more about what some of the leading candidates have to say about walking, biking, and livable neighborhoods, check out one of these upcoming mayoral forums, many of them conveniently held at local breweries. Register here. 

Cool Ped Stuff #27: Walk [Your City]

Tweet

You might remember last year's story about the graduate student in Raleigh who tried to promote walkability in his city by posting his own wayfinding signs in strategic locations. The City balked at the idea at first, arguing it violated sign regulations, but eventually recognized the importance of the idea and adopted the sign program as its own.

Following its success at home, WalkRaleigh used Kickstarter to fund Walk [Your City], a website that allows anyone to create wayfinding signs for their own neighborhood. I tried it out myself and created the sign above--the whole process was super easy and took me about five minutes to complete. Once you've made your signs, you can order them through the site for for about $25 each (including shipping, materials for mounting the sign, and associated web-based directions). 

This Week on Foot

Tweet

Photo courtesy of Atlantic Cities

(Maybe that should be "This Last Four Months on Foot, but bear with me here).

Fall hasn't hit us here in Southern California so much, but nonetheless Fall weather is walking season, making October 'Pedestrian Safety Month--and just in time, as a Pedestrian fatally struck in Torrance is identified. Pedestrian Safety Efforts Should Be Aimed at Drivers

Meanwhile, we're wondering if it's The Beginning of the End for Level of Service? And while we're asking questions, Can Victoria wait 243 years for more bike lanes and pedestrian paths? And, How does Perth rate in the walkability stakes? One place that doesn't rate so high is Pakistan, where Extortion prevents Saddar from turning into pedestrian zone. And we think we have it bad here in the US...

Actually, there's a lot of positive new around the country this week. There's a Pedestrian & Bike Trail Proposed Linking Little Rock And Hot Springs, in Texas Dallas’ long-in-the-works Complete Streets manual is, at last, complete, and the City Of Dickinson Looks To Fix Pedestrian Problems. We've also learned How One Person Sparked a Complete Streets Movement in Cranford, and that 400 Missouri State Students To Help Assess Walkability Throughout Springfield.

Of course, the week wouldn't be complete without some more sobering news, like how a Walking tour of East Innes, Long streets reveals problems for pedestrians, or Montgomery County still a ways from ‘walkable,’ pedestrian safety data shows--but overall Americans are recognizing the importance of walkability, like in New York where Two-Thirds of New York City Voters Say They Want Better Bike and Pedestrian Infrastructure.

On the other hand, Americans View Walking as Good for Health But Many Aren't Walking Enough to Realize Health Benefits, and 40 percent of Americans believe their neighborhoods are not walkable. Fortunately, there's A New Walking Movement to Get America Back on Its Feet, A new way to think about ‘walkability’ in the Valley, and we're even Learning from Las Vegas.

And on a final, lighter, note: this week we found out it's not just American people who love to walk--it's popular in the animal kingdom too, like with this Pedestrian pig hogs the spotlight.