Open Sidewalks - a mapping project for the carolinas

dtraleigh · February 16, 2023, 2:46pm

I’ve recently re-engaged into the civic tech space, which I’m really excited about, and wanted to share an upcoming project that I think readers here would be interested in.

Code for the Carolinas is meeting virtually on Wednesday, Feb 22 to kick off the Open Sidewalks project and we’re doing downtown Raleigh, among other locations.

If this interests you, take a look at the meetup event here and let me know if you have any questions.

Checkout this Meetup with Code for the Carolinas, a Community of Civic Tech Volunteers: Open Sidewalks Project Kickoff, Wed, Feb 22, 2023, 7:00 PM | Meetup

CodefortheCarolinas · February 20, 2023, 2:25pm

Hi, Jennifer here from Code for the Carolinas!

We would love to have folks from this forum–knowledgeable and passionate about Downtown Raleigh–join us in volunteering on this Open Sidewalks project! All are welcome and no specific technical skills are needed.

I wanted to share a bit more about what the end result of this project can be: a mapping and routefinding tool for pedestrians that also has settings for using a wheelchair or walker. Here’s an example of Seattle’s Access Map. This project is a partnership with the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology at the University of Washington.

We’ll be starting with an area centered on the Moore Square Transit Hub, because of its importance for public transit users, government buildings, and recreation.

I’ll keep an eye on this thread for questions and share a few updates on our progress!

CodefortheCarolinas · February 20, 2023, 2:26pm

If you can join us for the Wednesday, 7PM kickoff and orientation with folks from the national project team this week, that’s great! But if the time doesn’t work, we’d still love to hear from you at info@codeforthecarolinas.org or you can join our Slack workspace.

dtraleigh · February 20, 2023, 7:28pm

haus_of_chad · February 22, 2023, 2:56pm

Thanks for sharing this @dtraleigh! Sounds like an awesome way for our forum users to do some good for our Downtown community! I look forward to attending and participating in this!

haus_of_chad · March 3, 2023, 4:27pm

I was able to attend the kickoff meeting for this project, and they’re starting their first work session on Monday, March 13. We will be using OpenStreetMaps to help map out sidewalks and intersection crossings in Downtown Raleigh so that resources like AccessMap can provide information to pedestrians that may have difficulty navigating certain obstacles.

Hope to see some of you all, there. PM for more details!