A crowdsourcing app allows citizens to hold the public realm to higher standards of access and mobility.
Josh Cohen reports that Project Sidewalk, a data gathering mobile app project led by University of Washington faculty and students, has launched in Seattle in the hopes of improving sidewalk conditions.
"First piloted in Washington, D.C., in 2016, Project Sidewalk launched the Seattle version in mid-April," according to Cohen. "The app relies on data generated by users reviewing the city’s sidewalks via Google Street View, an attempt to speed up city audits usually conducted by teams of city workers walking the streets with clipboard in hand."
Leading the University of Washington effort is Computer Science Professor Jon Froehlich, who tells Cohen that desired outcomes for Project Sidewalk include a better educated citizenry and political accountability in maintaining ADA compliant access in the public realm.
FULL STORY: Seattle's got terrible sidewalks. You can help fix them.
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San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.
Electric Vehicles for All? Study Finds Disparities in Access and Incentives
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research