Key to the Street

I had an interesting conversation with another artist in residence at The Banff Centre last night. We spoke about cultural connections and Sesame Street immediately came to mind. 

The artist I was speaking to grew up in Mexico City. In Latin America, Sesame Street is called Plaza Sésamo. And it connects children all over Latin America by a common childhood experience. Just like it's english-speaking counterpart. 

Contemplating Sesame Street as a cultural touchstone got me thinking about Key to the Street. 

Could Key to the Street become a tool that connects people globally in envisioning what their communities might look like from the street level? In the same way people share travel photos on Pinterest or Facebook people might eventually share their designs for the future of city streets. And even though these people live in other places and might not have anything else in common, Key to the Street will be the experience they share.  

Americans must be willing to underwrite and participate in team research on a massive scale directed toward learning more about the interrelationship of man and his environment.

In 2011, Zipcar selected three participants per city who formed "teams" and chronicled their experiences through video and blog posts on Zipcar's Low-Car Diet website.  At the end of the challenge, friends, family, fans and other Zipsters were invited to visit the site and vote on the team that best embodied the Low-Car Diet lifestyle. 

How can designers offer youth a chance to participate in community change? In what ways can youth contribute, and what is the potential impact?

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In early March 2013, I’d been living in Austin for five months and struggling to figure out how to get my startup off the ground. I heard about The Made in Banff pitch session at SXSWi. So I applied to pitch my idea and the day before the event I was told I was invited to present to the panel. 

I showed the panel images of The Highline in NYC, Candy Chang’s I Wish This Was experiment in New Orleans and video from The Johnny Cash Project. And I asked the question, “Can a tool allow us to collaboratively redesign unwalkable streets?” 

Working in User Experience and Service Design has proved to  me that more can be achieved when you bring all of the stakeholders into the room to collaborate on a design solution. When it comes to walkable streets citizens are the most important stakeholder and they have been kept out of the design process. 

Key to the Street is a collaborative design tool that allows anyone to design more walkable streets. It breaks down silos formed within government agencies and establishes a new way to think about urban planning. 

We worry about the effects video games may have on our children, but we don’t ask ourselves the consequences of rarely experiencing walking.

Imagine a thirteen year old whose grandparents live in the next gated community down the road. The child must be driven out of the protected neighborhood onto a major traffic collector then into the secured community of the grandparents. 

Pic Source EnvironmentalGraffiti.com

This preteen cannot walk to visit grandparents (or friends) even in a safe neighbourhood less than a quarter mile away. What kind of effect will that urban isolation have on a young person? Can you imagine never experiencing walking to school as a kid? 

This is the story of how a startup idea became a project on Kickstarter. Told byJess Lowry, Founder of Key to the Street

After three years living in Melbourne I decided to move back to the States. Although I was born in Canada my family hails from Long Island, NY.  But there isn’t much work in that part of the country these days. 

So I thought long and hard about where I should live. And in the end I settled on Austin, TX. I’ve always liked Austin and it’s one of the fastest growing cities in America. But Austin’s also one of the least walkable American cities according to WalkScore.com. “Austin is the 31st most walkable city in the U.S. with a Walk Score of 47. In Austin, 27% of residents have a Walk Score of 70 or above. In contrast, New York is the most walkable city in the U.S. with a Walk Score of 85. In New York, 86% of residents have a Walk Score of 70 or above.”

Initially I wanted to design a mobile service that directed users to local businesses that source all of their produce and products from local producers, but I refocused my intention within days of arriving in Austin. 

As I walked around I felt trapped. There are few sidewalks and major roads feel like highways. And actual highways surround the perimeter of every neighborhood. A pedestrian can only go so far and they do so at their own risk. There was no way I could design the mobile service I wanted to create if it isn’t possible to walk to and from local recommendations. 

I realized that we need to do something about the walkability issues plaguing most American cities. The ability to walk safety is more important than another recommendation tool. There shouldn’t be any restrictions when it comes to walking safely.  Nor should there be any barriers. In America, there seems to be classism associated to walking. It’s perceived as a sign of wealth to be able to drive a car and rarely walk. 

This is the story of how a startup idea became a project on Kickstarter. Told by Jess Lowry, Founder of Key to the Street

Many years ago, I was living alone in Toronto, Canada near where I grew up. It was summertime and I had no air conditioning, but I rarely went outside despite the uncomfortable heat in my stuffy apartment. The temperature of the air outside was several degrees cooler, but I stayed indoors. This was during one of the more serious bouts of depression I’ve experienced in my life. I was twenty-two and had lost all connection to my community and myself. 

How I learned to manage my moods is through walking. Its something that takes little effort. Walking is my therapy. It’s my tool. And I can usually walk just about anywhere. 

When I feel isolated or lonely I go for a walk. And while I’m walking I meditate on what is going on in my life at that particular moment. I might start my walk feeling negative, but I always end my walk feeling hopeful. There’s something cathartic about walking. It transforms my mood. 

Back in 1995, my mom sent me a pocket-sized version of Henry David Thoreau’s classic essay Walking, and I’ve carried this tiny book with me for 18 years. I’ve had it while hiking mountains in Georgia, walking the streets of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, across the UK, Europe, Australia and now it sits on my desk in Austin, Texas.

Over the years, I’ve moved approximately 50 times, lived in 6 different cities, 4 different countries on 3 continents. The walkability of a city is something I’m always keenly aware of. And I’ve been fortunate to live in some of the most walkable places in the western world. 

In Melbourne, I worked as a User Experience Researcher. My work focused on digital platforms managed by companies who wanted to create tools that innovated their services. 

While at National Australia Bank I immersed myself in service design. An internal team would contact me with a need to ensure a digital experience was simple and easy to use. I’d conduct customer interviews and user testing in order to identify the usefulness of a digital product. 

I’ve been fortunate to work with the Environmental Protection Agency of Victoria, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Target Australia and other companies. Always aligning the intentions of the business with the needs of the user. 

I enjoy my work because it allows me to help other people feel more satisfied by their everyday experiences. What’s most rewarding is uncovering their unconscious needs. These can sometimes be referred to as ‘ah ha’ moments. The truth is, we’re not always aware of what we need, but we usually know what we don’t want. 

In Austin? Looking for inspiring places to walk to?