Letter from the Executive Director

The last five months have been like no other. As COVID-19 continues to paralyze our mobility and economy, people walk to maintain physical and mental health, commute to essential jobs, and connect with people from a safe distance. Never has it been more obvious that sidewalks—typically five feet wide—are too narrow as we try to stay six feet away from each other. For the first 15 weeks of our COVID-19 experience, our Keep Walking weekly newsletter chronicled new neighborhood discoveries and made you laugh with silly walking videos, songs with COVID-19-inspired lyrics like “Stayin’ At Home,” and uplifting messages to keep you going.

Then, George Floyd’s murder on May 25, 2020 once again forced us to confront the horrors of police violence against Black and brown people, and acknowledge that police brutality robs Black people of the fundamental right to walk their streets without fear.

WalkBoston’s mission—to make Massachusetts more walkable—converges with COVID-19 response efforts and the anti-racism movement.

In the midst of this public health crisis, we are advocating for the repurposing of street space so people can safely walk, run, and roll. With fewer vehicles on the road, we called for a rebalancing of street space to immediately serve those most vulnerable. WalkBoston worked with MassDOT, AAA, MassBike, and others to make a plea to drivers to slow down as traffic speeds soared after volumes plummeted. We know that walkability goes beyond safe crossings and wide sidewalks. Walkable main streets are lively community places whose vibrancy depends on the businesses along them. In the wake of COVID-19, their role has intensified—WalkBoston’s Main Streets Resiliency panel discussion brought people together to strategize on how to support their local businesses as they face economic challenges during the pandemic. (June 24, 2020 panel video available at WalkBoston.org)

WalkBoston continues to work in Black and brown neighborhoods where racism has led to disparities in the quality of the built environment. Our work takes us from the Gateway Cities to Boston’s Mattapan and Talbot Norfolk Triangle neighborhoods among others. Our approach in these places draws on the expertise and desires of residents, community-based organizations, and municipal staff. Our definition of safe public spaces and our experiences in public spaces as a predominantly-White staff is not the same as for Black and brown residents. We commit to do more to better understand, identify, and expose the racist processes and policies that continue to deprive Black and brown residents of the safe, connected public realm others enjoy. Look for an upcoming WalkBoston email series on racial equity and walkability.

We commit to being better advocates for Black communities, in addition to working to dismantle the system that perpetuates disparities in the built environment. As an organization, we are actively investigating how to make anti-racist strategies and mobility justice central to our mission, and have committed resources to hiring outside help to lead us through an internal racial equity analysis, to help frame our upcoming strategic plan. This process will take time, but we are dedicated to fighting for mobility justice and will share our completed concrete plan.

Stacey Beuttell, Executive Director

This article was featured in WalkBoston’s August/September 2020 newsletter.
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