CD Youth Pedestrian Project

A Successful Event!

2009-12-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

Fifty people gathered at the Central Cinema to join Feet First for the viewings of the Yodios on Saturday! A short walk in the area was led by John Stewart, Feet First's President. He highlighted some of the main issues surrounding crosswalk actions, Safe Routes to School and pedestrian crashes!

Mulled wine and spiced cider warmed us up while Lisa spoke about Feet First and the aim of the Central District Youth project. Then the YODIOS were finally unveiled! The three submissions were all brilliant and looked at different areas and issues. Digital cameras will be given to each submitter! You can view the Yodios yourself here:

http://www.yodio.com/yo.aspx?CardId=BfjLl9Nhos5oe3fBRd4FvK
http://www.yodio.com/yo.aspx?cardid=7CzRkg6b6w5QkjFpugfoBE
http://www.yodio.com/Yo.aspx?CardId=Hjapxb6Rxj6QGmKPsRqCj6

Feet First also unveiled their new Safe Routes to School Documentary that will now be used to encourage other schools to get involved with the project as well as to raise awareness of the work they do!

The raffle was a brilliant success raising $370!!! And we thank you all for your kind donations and support! Overall the event was excellent for Feet First in terms of reaching out to new communities as well raising important funds for future work.

AND don't forget the final part of the project takes place on Friday 11th December! The last walking audit will start at Washington Middle School at 2.45. Contact Jen@feetfirst.info for more information about that.

Thanks again! Keep on walking!

Showcase Event - December 5th!!

2009-11-04T13:24:00.000-08:00

The Yodio showing, judging and prize giving will take place on Saturday 5th December at 2pm. The event is kindly being hosted by the Central Cinema on 1411 21st Ave, Seattle.

We will start at 2pm with a short walk in the local area followed by refreshments back at the cinema before viewing the Yodios. The all important prize giving will be the last item of the day!

The event will double at the Feet First social so we hope to have all the board members along as well as many Feet First members and volunteers!! We will host a raffle and there are already some wicked prizes up for grabs. Here is the list so far!

1. Gift Certificate for a 10 Class Yoga Card from The Samarya Centre
2. Family Fun Pack from Woodland Park Zoo
3. One brow wax from Browlick Studio
4. Two Adult admission pass from Seattle Art Museum
5. Bottle of Wine from AOC Travel Guides
6. Pair of Symphony Tickets from Seattle Symphony
7. Gift certificate for One Pound of Fudge from Rocky Mt Chocolate Factory
8. Two cinema tickets from Central Cinema
9. Gift certificate from Tutta Bella
10. Two adult all day lift tickets from Stevens Pass

YOU GOTTA BE IN IT TO WIN IT!!

Contest Re-opened

2009-10-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

The three digital cameras are still up for grabs!!! We have re-opened the contest so get out into the CD, take your photos and get story telling!!

New deadline is Wed 25th November 2009.

Showcase event will be in December 2009! Date to be confirmed.

How to Participate:
1. Take a walk in the Central District and take pictures of what you see and experience. (Feet First have digital cameras you can borrow to take your photos, contact elaine@feetfirst.info for details!)

2. Create a Yodio account at www.yodio.com. You can use a parent's account if you are under 18, or create your own account with your own email address. Make sure you have your parent's permission before setting up your account. We can help with this if you are unsure what to do!

3. Put your photos into a Yodio and add audio captions via a phone to tell a digital story about your walk in the CD. Try to keep your story short and sweet, and under 3 minutes.

4. Let us know that you've entered the contest! Send an email with your Yodio that lists each photo's location, address, or closest cross street to elaine@feetfirst.info

5. Tell all your friends to enter their own CD Street Story! We'll use these stories to help make your neighborhood a safer place for pedestrians, cyclists, and the community.

Have Fun!

Contest Deadline Extended to August 25th!!

2009-08-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

We would still LOOOVE to have more entries! SO...the deadline for the CD Street Stories contest is being extended until August 25th.

Email your entries to Megan at megan@feetfirst.info for a chance to win a new Canon ELPH digital camera (ooohhh), to have the displayed at SAM (ahh), and to have them viewed at the Central Cinema event on September 22nd!

Central District Walking Audit Report

2009-06-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

In a series of two walks, nearly 30 youth from the Central District joined Feet First to document and share their perspective and experiences walking in the CD. Their photos and observations are collected in this report, and lent to the Top Recommendations and Observations for making the CD a safer, more walkable area.

We are looking for general comments, feedback, and stories from the community about the areas covered in the report. Please share your input to add value to the report and as part of a bigger conversation about issues affecting and enhancing the Central District neighborhood.

Send comments to Megan Jackson at Feet First, megan@feetfirst.info | 206.652.2310.

Central District Walking Audit Report.pdf

How-to Create a Yodio

2009-04-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

Yodio is a program that allows you to put your pictures with short audio files. The audio files are recordings that you make by calling into their 1-800 number. The photos are uploaded from your computer.

You're gonna have to start out with your pictures, obviously. Download them to a computer and pick the ones out to use in your Yodio. You can have as many or as few as you like. It worked best for me to organize what I wanted my digital story to say and look like before I attempted to put it into the Yodio. Important thing to know--one photo can go with only one audio file just as one audio file can go with only one photo.

1. Go to www.yodio.com
2. Join. It's all free and sets you up a personal account.
3. Add a phone number that you will be recording from. You don't HAVE to do this, but it's easier than trying to get your recording later. They don't use the number for anything else, but simply attach it to your account.
4. Upload your pictures from a computer.
5. Call in to record what you want to say about each picture.
6. Drag and drop a photo and its audio file to a track.
7. This should all be creating your own digital story. Add a title and a description and when it's finished, publish it. You can set it to private if you don't want others on the world wide web to view it.
8. Go to "My Yodio" and "Share" to copy the link of your Yodio. Send that link to me at megan@feetfirst.info. I'll email back a confirmation and a form you will need to send back to me agreeing to share rights and access to your Yodio with Feet First.
9. You've just submitted your Yodio for a chance to win a Canon PowerShot Digital Camera. We'll keep in touch with how we're using or showcasing your story.
10. Thanks :)

Yodio Multi-Media Challenge

2009-04-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

CD Street Stories: Multimedia Challenge

The Challenge:
Tell a short, digital story about how you relate to your community as a pedestrian.

Who is Eligible:
Any youth ages 11-19 who live in or go to school in the Central District.

DEADLINE IS AUGUST 14th !

How to Participate:
1. Take a walk in the Central District and take pictures of what you see and experience.

2. Create a Yodio account at www.yodio.com. You can use a parent's account if you are under 18, or create your own account with your own email address. Make sure you have your parent's permission before setting up your account.

3. Put your photos into a Yodio and add audio captions via a phone to tell a digital story about your walk in the CD. Try to keep your story short and sweet, and under 3 minutes.

4. Let us know that you've entered the contest! Send an email with your Yodio that lists each photo's location, address, or closest cross street to megan@feetfirst.info

5. Tell all your friends to enter their own CD Street Story! We'll use these stories to help make your neighborhood a safer place for pedestrians, cyclists, and the community.

Canon PowerShot ELPH
Digital Camera
to Top 3 Grand Prize Winners

MAKE YOUR YODIO GREAT Things to look for...assets like street art, benches, businesses, and green spaces. Look at the built environment like the sidewalks, bike lanes, lights, and bus stops. Do you enjoy spending time here? Is it noisy or smelly? Do you feel safe or comfortable? What could be here instead? What makes this place great? Is the area walkable for everyone?

This contest is sponsored by Feet First with funding from
the Central Region EMS and Trauma Care Council.

Lunch Lecture Series

2009-04-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

Join us in the Counseling Conference Room for Lunch Lecture Series April 8th & 9th.
Lunch provided!

April 8th
Car Culture Takeover: The norms we have accepted and why we don't have to

April 9th
The Crosswalk to Nowhere and Other Engineering Errors

Service Learning Project Includes
Lunch Lecture
Saturday, April 11th Walking Audit
Multi-Media Documentation
Contest and Prizes
Open to all CD youth ages 11-19

The Walking Audit. What is it and Why...

2009-03-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

The whole idea around this project is essentially about recognizing how our built environment affects our safety and the health of our community and the environment. WHY this is important--and really, why YOUR involvement makes the world better through this service is that once we can realize what factors are influencing this perception of walkability, we can use that knowledge to document the environment, and identify and propose solutions.

We can do the process of recognizing, documenting, and identifying barriers AND assets to walking in an areas through a walking audit.

A walking audit is a structured discussion about conditions in an area using points along a designated walking route.

Walking audits can...
...increase general walkability of the neighborhood,
encourage a shift in behavior to alternative transportation modes,
build community,
increase community health and access to physical activity, or
support the creation of a realistic action plan.

We'll use digital media and short audio files with a program called Yodio to document the walking route. You will also get to choose your best Yodio piece to submit for a contest. At the end, we put together the official walking audit report with the Yodios to compliment it. The report is the real powerful part--it states the observations made and recommendations, as well as visions of how the neighborhood could be more walkable. Defining priority recommendations is where we can focus our advocacy efforts to carry out the solutions.

Contact me! Sign up!

2009-02-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

The Project...

2009-02-09T10:24:00.000-08:00

Whether your interests are more aligned with the environment and sustainable development, social justice, alternative transportation, or civic engagement and politics, what we're starting to realize and see everywhere is that it's all interconnected.
Cracked sidewalks, congested traffic, and dirty bus stops impact our sense of community, the environment, and pedestrian safety just as open green spaces, safe intersections, and walkable neighborhoods do.
Recognizing how our physical environment impacts how we feel about it--our level of safety or comfort--is really one of the first steps to changing what's around us and how we interact with it.
So, that's the aim--to explore and critically examine the barriers and challenges of our physical environment, and to reclaim our rights and responsibilities as pedestrians.
And how we're aiming to do this...

Workshops/meetings/trainings/get-togethers on conducting walking audits, urban planning, walkability, community organizing, civic engagement, street reclaiming...It's information sharing, brainstorming, and development and if you want to hear about when they're happening or have it happen with an organization you're involved with or a group of friends you should contact ME!
Community walking audits
Documenting the walking audit with Yodio, a multi-media tool that patches audio files to pictures.
There will be a contest for Yodios submitted--a big deal with prizes, showcase event(s), people admiring your work, etc. It will be great. More importantly, the video submissions are going to be used in the walking audit reports to further support the top observations and recommendations for the CD. Those reports will be provided to the City of Seattle Council Members, Seattle Department of Transportation, and King County Metro.

That's about the gist of it...you, as youth in the Central District, taking the lead, using your expertise, creativity, and talent to make the CD safer for pedestrians.