On April 26, the Walk Friendly Communities program announced the first round of walk-friendly communities. Seattle sits atop the list because of pedestrian-focused planning and engineering, outreach and education, and strong enforcement and evaluation practices. From the detailed list, I’ll summarize the efforts:
- significant pedestrian counts
- having a Pedestrian Master Plan with clear goals and measurable performance indicators
- managing parking (Seattle abolished minimum parking requirements downtown in 1986)
- tree plantings on sidewalk buffer zones
- Safe Routes to School
- Parks and Rec program to encourage walking for 50+
- monthly carfree days via the Summer Streets program for markets, parades, art walks, etc
- traffic calming, especially via their traffic-circle program
- red light cameras, which save pedestrian lives
- Seattle PD’s Block Watch program, basically you looking out for your neighbors
- Seattle PD’s Aggressive Drivers Response Team, targeting chronic problem areas of dangerous driving
Now, this is the beginning of the program, so we expect the rankings to change. Cities interested in participating can apply here until June 15.