Category: Event

Celebrating Bob Sloane

Celebrating Bob Sloane

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Earlier this year WalkBoston lost a member of our family, Bob Sloane. 

Bob was a dear friend, a mentor, a creative genius, and a true pioneer in walking advocacy. On September 9, we gathered together virtually to celebrate his extraordinary life and reminisce about our times together with him. 

Stories were told about the early days, about his trailblazing work on the Boston Transportation Planning Review, where he pushed forward the message that walking is a fundamental part of the transportation conversation at a time when it was not a popular view. We heard about how Bob and company founded WalkBoston over beers at Jacob Wirth’s. We heard about how Bob stuck to his principles and ideals, regardless of the professional consequences. We heard about his kindness and empathy, his contagious enthusiasm and dedication.

Bob’s presence was palpable throughout the night as the same themes came through in every story. His kindness, his stalwart nature, his sense of humor, his creativity, and even his insistence on sharing snacks (especially Clover fries and yorkshire tea). 

“A fierce advocate,” “heart of gold,” “he never gave up,” “one of nature’s true gentlemen,” “truly a life well lived,” “the soul of WalkBoston.” This is how we described Bob. We will all miss the twinkle in his eye as he came up with his latest scheme. We will miss the sight of him hunched over his maps and tracing paper. We will miss him walking into the room and saying “do you have a minute?”

Thank you, Bob, for everything, and thank you to his family for sharing him with us. His legacy and impact will be felt for generations to come. He leaves behind a more walkable, livable, vibrant, and welcoming community for all of us. We hold him in our hearts and will never forget him. 

Lunch & Learn: Creating Safer Communities for Walking and Biking

Lunch & Learn: Creating Safer Communities for Walking and Biking

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Please join the Stepping Strong Injury Prevention community for a special event:
Creating Safer Communities for Walking and Biking

September 9 | 12:00pm
Virtual Link: https://partners.zoom.us/j/83401956344

Featuring presenters from Boston City Council, University of California San Francisco, WalkBoston, and Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition. The mission of the Stepping Strong Injury Prevention Program is to reduce the burden of injury by advancing evidence-based prevention activities through community outreach, research of best practices, and training of healthcare professionals at the Brigham and beyond.

Event: WalkBoston’s Talk the Walk Session: “15-Minute Cities,” 7/29 12pm on Zoom

Event: WalkBoston’s Talk the Walk Session: “15-Minute Cities,” 7/29 12pm on Zoom

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WalkBoston’s Talk the Walk Session
“15-Minute Cities”
July 29, 12-1pm
Register on Zoom

Lunch hour discussion session on Zoom. Open to all. Eating is encouraged. Video is optional. 

This is our first go at having a topic-driven discussion session (not just books!). These discussion sessions may include articles, podcasts, videos, and yes, maybe even a book or two. 

The first session will cover “15-Minute Cities.” Short explainer of the concept from Wikipedia. A few relevant articles are below. If you have read something related that others might find interesting or a question you’d like to include, send it our way—we can include it in our event reminder email and add to this post.

Discussion questions: 

  • For whom does this concept work? For whom doesn’t it work?
  • Does the concept exacerbate economic and ethnic segregation?
  • Why has the concept come to prominence now? What makes it exciting to planners?
  • Is it less applicable or more applicable if larger numbers of remote workers move to remote areas?
  • What does it mean for already built up cities? Is it applicable to American suburbs?

Register for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlfuurqzIvGdBFihVdRDkg-rlLon09UtCc
You will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 

Articles to get you started:

Webinar this Wednesday: Best Practices for Hosting a Virtual Walking Event

Webinar this Wednesday: Best Practices for Hosting a Virtual Walking Event

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America Walks Presents: “Best Practices for Hosting a Virtual Walking Event”

DATE: Wednesday, April 14, 2021 at 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT

Panelists:
Bryan Romey, Walk with a Doc Program Coordinator
Anthony Fleg, Family Medicine Physician and Native Health Initiative Partnership Director
Brendan Kearney, WalkBoston Deputy Director

Registration Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5342105200156786957

In a year that carried the undertone of general collective heartache and cancelled in-person events we learned a whole lot – and one thing we learned was the vast power and potential for virtual convenings and events to successfully connect people from all walks of life around walking, moving and advocating for healthy, people-first communities.

Hear from panelists from three different walking/moving organizations who have recent, hands-on experience and knowledge around developing virtual walking/moving events in our sphere. From the retrospective technical details to the future implementation and vision of what virtual convenings might mean for inclusion and improving community input – we’ll cover the full range of best practices for hosting virtual events that aim to promote physical activity and mobility for all people.

Golden Shoe Award Winners For March 2021 Annual Meeting

Golden Shoe Award Winners For March 2021 Annual Meeting

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As presented at this year’s annual event on Zoom, March 24, 2021. 

Karen Cord Taylor for her long term service as a committed Board member and fierce advocate for better walkability in her Beacon Hill neighborhood and the greater Boston community. Karen has devoted thirteen years to WalkBoston and has been part of so many wins as a WalkBoston Board member. Her dedication to clearing sidewalks and curb ramps of snow is particularly top of mind this winter. In addition to her advocacy work, Karen, a former newspaper owner and publisher, often used her editing skills to ensure our written communications were top notch. Karen was also instrumental in attracting and nominating wonderful new Board members, including our former Board President Emma Yashar. Your impact continues far beyond your 13-year Board tenure!

The MassDOT Shared Streets and Spaces Program provided funds to municipalities that allowed them to quickly respond to the many mobility challenges highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the need for more sidewalk space to walk safely 6’ apart, to dine outdoors in unused parking lanes, and to reimagine streets as low speed, safe spaces for people walking and biking. The popularity of this program demonstrated the desire, need and capabilities of municipalities to implement quick build projects to make streets safer and more enjoyable for all. WalkBoston is a huge fan of this program and we would love to see the program continue beyond the pandemic! In fact, we have a call to action for all of you to help make this happen later in our program. Kate Fichter, MassDOT’s Assistant Secretary for Policy Coordination and Project Lead for the Shared Streets and Spaces Program will be accepting the Golden Shoe Award on behalf of the group. We also want to thank the Barr Foundation and the Solomon Foundation for not only funding technical assistance to municipalities, but also for truly leading program outreach to ensure that all municipalities had capacity to apply regardless of local resources or expertise. Help us say THANKS for Shared Streets and Spaces so these types of projects happen more often.

Finally, our last Golden Shoe Award goes to Frank Caro. Frank died unexpectedly in October of 2020. He was an extremely dedicated Brookline resident determined to make streets and spaces more hospitable to older adults. As the founder and co-chair of the BrookLINE Community Aging Network (CAN), Frank ensured that the needs of older adults were more integrated into the life of the town. His work earned BrookLINEan Age-Friendly town designation by the World Health Organization, the first town to do so in New England. In addition to Frank’s Age-Friendly work, he founded the BrookLINE Pedestrian Advisory Board, which continues to conduct research on pedestrian activities and needs. Some of the Board’s projects included sidewalks on Longwood Avenue, audible signals along Beacon Street, and an inventory of hedges interfering with pedestrian space on sidewalks. Carol Caro, Frank’s widow, will be accepting the Golden Shoe Award on Frank’s behalf. Read a post about Frank Caro by WalkBoston board member Anita Johnson.