Pedestrianize This!

Building momentum for pedestrian streets

Pedestrianize This!, the first event in our three-part live panel series Shaping Seattle, was a success!

THANK YOU to all of the amazing speakers, panelists, volunteers, partners, sponsors, community leaders, local projects and supporters that were present and helped build momentum for pedestrian streets across Seattle.

Watch our event recap video!

How you can help

Pedestrian streets enliven our neighborhoods, making them vibrant and welcoming. They can also be part of meaningful solutions to our city's traffic safety and climate crises. Yet right now, the city places many regulatory hurdles in the way. Here are two ways you can help build support for pedestrian streets:

You can also get involved in your neighborhood! These local projects need your support:

The Patio In Columbia City (Rainier Ave Business Coalition)
Barbara Bailey Way (Central Seattle Greenways)
People Friendly Pike Place (Seattle Neighborhood Greenways)
NE 42nd St
The Ave
Ballard Ave (Ballard-Fremont Greenways)
Redesigning Beacon Hill Streets for People, Not for Cars (Smash the Box)
Pike/Pine Pedestrian Prioritization (Capitol Hill EcoDistrict)
Thomas St Redefined (Uptown Alliance)

About Pedestrianize This!

WHAT A NIGHT! Richard de Sam Lazaro (Expedia), our host for the evening, kicked off the evening and introduced our Around the World Pecha Kucha speakers Jeff Hou (UW Urban Commons Lab) and Mark Ostrow (Queen Anne Greenways), who treated us to an insightful tour of pedestrian streets throughout Asia and Europe that are leading examples for streets for people around the world.

Aditi Kambuj (Seattle Department of Transportation, SDOT) then took the stage as the moderator for our panel discussion, and introduced our three panelists: Debi Frausto (Uptown Alliance, Urban Design Framework), Erin Fried (Capitol Hill EcoDistrict), and Yes Segura (Smash the Box).

Debi focused our attention on redefining Thomas St; Erin dove into the inner workings of prioritizing pedestrians on Pike / Pine; and Yes spoke on the need to redesign Beacon Hill streets for people, not cars.

All three panelists provided their own unique perspectives on the intricacies involved in making our streets safer, accessible, welcoming and sustainable for all of our communities.

We wrapped up the night with a reception for our guests to have a chance to continue to learn from community and project leaders, connect with partners and peer organizations, and collaborate and activate around key issues and opportunities impacting our city.

The local projects represented throughout the room included: