Tag: Urban planning
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Right of Way?
Angie Schmitt’s Right of Way looks at the ways in which pedestrian deaths are not really accidents, but the result of ignoring pedestrian safety when we design our cities, roads and vehicles. Pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. increased a shocking 80% between 2009 – 2023! Jeff Speck, whose book Walkable City we’ve previously noted, wrote…
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Winter sidewalks
There’s an extra challenge for pedestrians living in cities with winter weather that lasts for months of below-zero temperatures and snow. While municipalities can’t prevent cold weather, their policies and actions on clearing sidewalks have a significant impact on our ability to walk safely in the winter. Regina, Saskatchewan where Project Pedestrian originates, finally passed…
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Pedestrian Dignity
Pedestrian Dignity seeks to raise awareness about issues related to being a pedestrian. Created by Jonathan Stalls, whose book WALK: Slow Down, Wake Up, and Connect at 1 – 3 Miles Per Hour was published in 2022, Pedestrian Dignity encourages collaborations and shares information about walking from all over the U.S. In addition to the…
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How wide is your sidewalk?
A city’s approach to sidewalks has a huge impact on the experiences of its pedestrians. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the National Research Council published Sidewalk Design, Construction and Maintenance, which “recommends a minimum Residential Street sidewalk width of 1.5 metres. When the sidewalk is located adjacent to the curb on major roadways, the…
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Useful, safe, comfortable, and interesting
Three books with similar titles that look at how urban planning impacts our experiences as pedestrians. Mary Soderstrom’s The Walkable City (2008) takes us through Paris, New York, Toronto, North Vancouver and Singapore, and examines how cities have changed the lives of ordinary citizens – in positive and negative ways. Soderstrom spoke with Pedestrian Space…
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Pedestrian Pride
The Pedestrian Pride Project is based in Columbus, Missouri, USA, a city with a population around 130,000. “Founded by community advocate and walking commuter McKenzie Ortiz, Pedestrian Pride is rooted in the belief that the stories of those who walk and roll daily should be at the forefront of urban advocacy. ” Most of the…
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How walking changes the way we see the world
CBC Radio Saskatchewan’s Blue Sky devoted an episode to walking: “Ken Wilson spent days walking the car-centric bypass highway around Regina. He wrote about his experience in a new book Walking the Bypass: Notes on Place from the Side of the Road. Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway of the Buffalo People Arts Institute did a ceremonial walk dragging…
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I’m walkin’ here!
If you’ve walked in a North American city, there’s a good chance you’ve witnessed and/or experienced something similar to that of Ratso and Joe in Midnight Cowboy – a driver makes a right hand turn without looking for pedestrians. In Canada, there are an average of 300 pedestrian fatalities every year, and thousands of injuries…
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Ken Wilson – Pedestrian
It was such a pleasure to talk with Ken (aka Dr. Ken Wilson). I’ve known Ken for a couple decades and I have seen how walking has become a vital and creative component of his life. He’s been very generous in sharing the sources of his walking knowledge, and introduced me to a range of…
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Laura Pfeifer – Pedestrian
I really enjoyed talking with Laura about her passion for cities and walking. I first met Laura around 2010 at a Jane’s Walk, which Laura brought to Regina and organised even after she moved away from the city. Laura’s Regina Urban Ecology blog and related activities, which ran from 2009-2015, documented really interesting discussions and…
Project Pedestrian 