How Can Spatial Thinking Help in Advocating for Pedestrians?
Speaker: Professor Sumeeta Srinivasan, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University, WalkMassachusetts Board Member
Yesterday, Professor Sumeeta Srinivasan spoke about how GIS, or Geographic Information Systems, includes analytic tools that help make maps and conduct spatial analysis. In this brainstorming session, we explored ways communities can use GIS to advocate for themselves.
“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Everyday, I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.” –Søren Kierkegaard
As part of the Summer Walk Series, last week WalkMassachusetts had the pleasure of hosting a walk through Cambridgeport. This event aimed to bring together pedestrians (and some cyclists!) to explore the city on foot and to learn about local projects, area history, and built environment changes.
The two-mile walk started on the south side of the B.U. Bridge, brought participants through Magazine Beach Park and continued northeast along Magazine Street to Massachusetts Ave. Our group of 30 pedestrians met with a variety of guest speakers who shared valuable information about the B.U. Bridge Safety Alliance, Magazine Beach Park, the Allston Intermodal Project, St. Augustine African Orthodox Christian Church, and the history of the Inner Belt and anti-highway activism in Cambridge. Exploration of this landscape along with its varied histories, projects, and organizations helped to illuminate the struggles, changes, and cultural dynamics of the built environment–aspects which may often go unnoticed but that nonetheless inform our everyday experiences.
At the beginning of the evening, co-executive director Althea Wong-Achorn asked everyone to think about how heat affects the pedestrian experience and what types of interventions (i.e. increasing tree and vegetable cover, cool pavements) could be made to improve the experience. The air temperature hovered in the high 80s while surface temperatures in the parking lot where we met adjacent to the B.U. Bridge reached 113 degrees. In comparison, the surface temperature in Magazine Beach Park, thanks to the cooling effects of its vegetation, was 76 degrees.
As we crossed over the Charles River, our group remarked on the challenging pedestrian and bike infrastructure on and around the B.U. Bridge, including unprotected bike lanes, complicated pedestrian crossings, narrow footpaths, and a dangerous roundabout for all road users. Once in Magazine Beach Park, the calmness of the urban, riverfront park was met with the constant hum of traffic emanating from the elevated section of I-90 across the water in Allston. A final observation was the pleasant, tree-shaded streets of Cambridgeport.
All in all, this walk was a delightful opportunity to come together, share knowledge and experience, and take pleasure in the simplicity of walking. It provided participants with a chance to broaden their perspective, connect with each other, learn about Cambridgeport, discover something new and at the very least to get outside. Thank you to everyone who braved the heat to join us. We look forward to seeing you on our next walk!
We also want to thank all of our wonderful speakers: Ken Carlson, BU Bridge Safety Alliance; Stacey Beuttell, Senior Director, Nature in the City Program, Mass Audubon; Fred Yalouris, Allston I-90 Task Force; Reverend Kit Eccles, Pastor of St. Augustine’s Church; Steve Kaiser, traffic engineer and author; Kit Rawlins, Assistant Director, Cambridge Historical Society. In particular we appreciate the hard work and organizing efforts of Cathie Zusy and Anita Johnson for making this walk possible! For more information on the histories, projects, and organizations highlighted on his walk, please visit the links below:
June 14, 2024 Re: North Station Drawbridge Replacement / Draw One Project Sent via email: drawone@mbta.com Dear project team,
My name is Brendan Kearney, and I’m co-executive director of WalkMassachusetts, a statewide pedestrian advocacy organization previously known as WalkBoston. We have followed the slow progression and implementation of the New Charles River Basin Master Plan for decades. I’m commenting on the removal of the pedestrian river crossing as part of the North Station Draw 1 Bridge Replacement.
The drawbridge crosses over the Charles River directly behind North Station. It currently has two moveable spans with four tracks. Existing piers are supporting the spans already in place. The new drawbridge will have three moveable spans with additional tracks. We are concerned that the current draft of the design for the bridge does not include a pedestrian path, the 2nd of three important pedestrian connections within the Master Plan. This crucial pedestrian and bicycle connection was a commitment by the Commonwealth as part of the Central Artery project mitigation. It should be restored to the project and built on the same timeline as the rail crossing.
WalkMassachusetts would like to remind the MBTA, the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and MassDOT that the North Bank bridge which connects Cambridge and Charlestown and passes underneath the Zakim Bridge was also dropped at one point roughly 20 years ago – at the time, officials were sympathetic, but said the holdup was simply due to lack of funding. As we now know, that bridge is a heavily used, beautiful and well-loved part of the Charles River Reservation. We should not make the mistake of leaving out the connection between the North Point Park and North Station which will also become a heavily used, and well-loved part of the Charles River Reservation.
We look forward to seeing you on July 11th at 5:30pm for our latest walk! We’ll be starting on Comm Ave by the BU Bridge.
What: 2024 Cambridgeport Walk When: July 11, 5:30pm-7:30pm Where: corner of Comm Ave and BU Bridge (785 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215) Price: Free, but donations are welcome to support our work. RSVP here:https://www.givesignup.org/TicketEvent/2024CambridgeportWalk
Join us on our next free walk – on each of our organized walking tours, we start or end near public transit, and usually end at a place where people can mingle/have a drink if they’d like to continue conversations.
We encourage you to use public transportation, walk, or bike to the start so that it is easy for you to head out afterwards. Updates will be available on our website & sent to all registered attendees before the event.
ROUTE:
Starting Location: BU Bridge at the Comm Ave side. We’ll meet at the wide corner sidewalk near “Lot H.” Look for the “WalkMassachusetts” sign.
Getting there via public transportation:
Green Line: take the B line and get off at either Amory Street or BU Central
Bus: 47, 57, CT2
BlueBikes: closest station is on Comm Ave by BU Central
Ending Location: La Fabrica, 450 Mass Ave (Central Square – Mass Ave near Brookline) In the past, we have usually tried to be at a bar/restaurant where folks can make their own decisions about food or drink to continue chatting. Route is just about 2 miles, and we have prioritized shade in parks along the way.
SPEAKERS & TOPICS:
Ken Carlson, BU Bridge Safety Alliance; BU Bridge Safety Alliance’s Comm Ave / BU Bridge intersection effort
Cathie Zusy; Magazine Beach history & future, Powder Magazine
Stacey Beuttell, Senior Director, Nature in the City Program, Mass Audobon; Nature in the City program
Fred Yalouris; Allston I-90 Task Force
Reverend Kit Eccles, Pastor of St. Augustine’s Church; St. Augustine Church
Steve Kaiser, traffic engineer and author; Inner Belt
Kit Rawlins, Assistant Director, Cambridge Historical Society; history of Memorial Drive, Dana Park
We are always on the lookout for board candidates from all backgrounds and demographics to reflect the diverse communities in which we work: from the Hilltowns to Haverhill, the Cape to the Islands, urban areas to rural ones. Keep reading to learn more about how our board and its committees work; you will find a link at the end if you would like to express interest in joining.
Please also share this information with members of your network if you think you know someone who would be a good fit for us. We’d love to talk to them!
What does a board member do?
The board of WalkMassachusetts is responsible for the strategic governance and oversight of the organization. Working with the Executive Director, the board ensures the organization’s financial health, strategic plan, and goals are aligned with the mission, vision, and values. Members are committed to executing all fiduciary responsibilities and serving as advocates of WalkMassachusetts to the community.
Specific responsibilities include:
Attend board and committee meetings and significant organizational events.
Chair and/or participate in at least one board committee.
Participate in establishing and maintaining organizational policies.
Make an annual contribution at a level commensurate with personal capacity.
Participate actively in organizational fundraising activities.
Identify friends and associates who might be prospective donors or board/committee members.
Participate in hiring and periodic evaluation of WalkMassachusetts’s Executive Director.
Support and advise the Executive Director as appropriate.
Participate actively in assessing WalkMassachusetts’ performance and setting its strategic goals and objectives.
Serve as an ambassador for WalkMassachusetts in the community.
Desired qualifications
Significant experience in business, nonprofit, academia, government/public service, or another field.
Ideally, experience in a field closely related to WalkMassachusetts’s work – e.g. planning/transportation, finance, development, public health, or community organizing.
Knowledge of or willingness to learn about issues of walkability in Massachusetts and the work of pedestrian advocacy.
Commitment to WalkMassachusetts’ mission to create more walkable communities across the state.
Connections to personal or professional networks with capacity and interest to support the work of the organization.
Personal capacity to make an annual contribution to the organization in addition to supporting fundraising efforts.
Understanding of the role of diversity, equity and inclusion in achieving our mission.
WalkMassachusetts is committed to diversity and inclusion and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We seek candidates that represent the diverse perspectives and lived experiences throughout the Commonwealth, with the goal of having a board that reflects the communities we serve. We encourage candidates to apply even if they do not meet every qualification above.
WalkMassachusetts’ board currently meets monthly (10 times per year), mainly via Zoom, but with some hybrid meetings and a hybrid Annual Celebration in the Spring. WalkMassachusetts has office space in Downtown Boston at the CIC (50 Milk Street, Boston, MA 02109). Meetings are the fourth Tuesday of the month from 5:30pm to 7pm, unless otherwise stated. Committee meetings are scheduled separately, based on the availability of committee members, and occur monthly.
Important: If you are interested in supporting WalkMassachusetts’ mission, and have skills relevant to one of our committees, but are not ready to join the board itself, please know that several of our committees are open to non-board members as well!
Board committees
Communications
Development
Events
Executive
Finance
Governance
Interested in joining the board or a committee? Fill out this form to let us know!
