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: Login to Meetup | Meetup
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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!
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We have the Spring photo walk this weekend and we’ll also have some folks from Code for the Carolinas as we are still mapping sidewalks in DTR. Here’s our progress so far. You can see there will be open areas to map along the route.
- White: Ready to map
- Blue: 1 person has mapped, ready for validation
- Green: Validated (done)
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Hi, stopping by with an update and an invite!
Code for the Carolinas is having a civic tech volunteer Meet and Greet this Sunday, October 22, at the Moore Square Farmers Market. We’ll be there for casual conversation and connection from 11am to 1pm.
This is a great opportunity to stop by and learn about our progress and next steps on the Open Sidewalks mapping project, where we’re mapping the area surrounding the GoRaleigh transit hub. Check out our progress on this new map!
We’ll also be happy to share info about our other active project, a partnership with the National Zoning Atlas.
The weather Sunday is shaping up to be delightful, and there is also this Fall Festival taking place at City Market right after our event, so it seems like a great day to enjoy Downtown Raleigh. Hope to see you there, and feel free to reach out with questions!
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I’m sure this article could go in a few different places, but shout out to @dtraleigh! It’s always awesome to see these projects pop up in the local news.
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Wow that shot of Leo walking across the street gave me chills!
This is actually a pretty cool project, but it’s also nice to see Leo continue on his rise from hip influencer to major power broker.
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