20Ft Wide: Downtown Alley Activation Comes to Austin

I have written a of couple posts here about my love for alleys and the potential to transform these spaces into vibrant public places for families.  Last fall, the City of Austin's Downtown Commission (which I sit on) set up a workgroup to explore how to make this happen. This has led to the upcoming launch of 20Ft Wide, Austin's first downtown alley activation project (in recent times at least). Yay! What a thrill to see this project unfold, with a tremendous consortium of public and private partners.

20Ft Wide will temporarily activate a downtown alley along Congress Avenue as a public space over the course of five days in April. The project will involve an art installation in the upper levels of the alleyway, along with a series of artist programs and interactive activities for families, to draw people into the alley and to engage them with the alley space. “20ft Wide” is named after the 20 feet that serves as the standard width for many of Austin’s downtown alleys. On Saturday, April 20th, from 10am-3pm, the alley will be transformed into an artistic playground for children, with a writer's workshop, origami, musical performances, jugglers, and more.

The 20Ft Wide project is already generating lots of great buzz in the media, including these stories from YNN and KUT public radio. A detailed list of 20Ft Wide events will be posted soon on Art Alliance Austin's website.  Stay tuned for updates. 

Honk if You Love Spring in Austin

Spring has arrived full force in Austin. Just when I was thinking how much I was going to miss our winter, Austin's spring festival season kicked into full gear, with a whole host of outdoor offerings for families. First up in March: Kite Day, one of our favorite family festivals (which is technically in winter, but it feels like spring). 

Then, last weekend, my family experienced HONK!TX for the first time, a festival of community street bands that is every band geek's dream come true (written by a former band geek: I played the cymbals and xylophones in my high school marching band!). To take in as many bands as possible, I took my sons to the HONK!TX parade day last Sunday. We brought a picnic lunch and sat down on East 2nd street to observe a whole host of marching bands, from the eclectic to the deranged. We had a blast. Here are some pictures from the parade, although I am not posting ones from the thong-wearing band. 

Chicago: Providing Children with Access to Quality Parks

Last week, Chicago Mayor Emanuel announced a comprehensive strategy to ensure that every child in Chicago lives within a 10-minute walk of a new park or playground. WOW!  Here's a news story on the program, called "Chicago Plays," which will build new parks and refurbish 300 city playground over the next five years. By the end of this year alone, the city will open 5 new parks, rebuild 50 playgrounds, and acquire 200 acres of parkland.

Last year, I blogged about the issue of childrens' access to parks in Austin. Our track record here is dismal: Austin ranks 65th in the country in per capita city spending on parks operations and maintenance, and only 37% of Austin's inner-city residents live within a 10-minute walk of a public park (less than 42% of residents outside the urban core). Meanwhile, in cities such as Chicago, more than 90% of residents can walk to a park (91% in NYC, 97% in Boston, 99% in Minneapolis).

A recent City of Austin Urban Parks Workgroup report recommended that the City step up its commitment to expanding park access, by dedicating $20 million in the City's most recent bond election for new park acquisition. Instead, only a fifth of that was put on the ballot last year for voters to approve, which will barely make a dent in closing our city's park access gaps. We have a long way to go. The Chicago model is inspiring.

Sandboxes in Cities

I am have been thinking about sandboxes in cities. Summer is still a few months away, but the weather here in Austin has been gorgeous, and, whenever possible, my family wants to be outdoors. There are very few things that will entertain my two sons -- for hours -- more than sand, dirt, and rocks.

Other cities have decided that, if you live in a city and cannot make it to the beach, bring the beach to you! I love the temporary and permanent installations of sand boxes in the cities featured below. Sandboxes are a fabulous way to draw families into the downtown urban core and a fun way to transform streets that are otherwise dead on the weekends into places of play.

The Sandbox Project, Ottawa, Canada
Epoch Times, June 14, 2012

New York City, Summer Streets
© Nellies 78, Flikr, available under a Creative Commons Attribution/Noncommercial License

 

New York City, Imagination Playground

Paris Plage
 © Cedric Cousseau, Flikr, available under a Creative Commons Attribution/Noncommercial/No Derivative Works License

Summer Streets, New York City
© nycstreets, Flikr, available under a Creative Commons Attribution/Noncommercial License

© akseabird, Flikr, available under a Creative Commons Attribution/Noncommercial License 

Exploring Austin on Bikes with Kids: Duncan Park and Shoal Creek Trail

Duncan Park, Austin

Yesterday my family headed out on our bikes for an afternoon outing and discovered Duncan Park in downtown Austin (aka 9th Street Trails), a mecca for dirt bikers and kids of all ages.  Younger kids appear to congregate here earlier in the day, followed by older, more hard core BMX bikers in the later hours. My kids fell in love with this park, although (thankfully for my sanity) they stuck to the smaller dirt hills. There are several things I love about this park as well: its organic development and maintenance by a community of local BMX bikers; its prime location in downtown Austin; and the fact that you can access it via the Shoal Creek trail. 

Shoal Creek trail is now passable in most parts from Lady Bird Lake, providing a safe alternative for families with kids to bike through Downtown Austin, off the streets.  With our beautiful January weather, it was a wonderful outing!

Duncan Park

Riding back home, we also discovered the new interactive public art installation next to the Zach Scott theater: Rhytons by Cliff Garten

Shoal Creek trail 

Parts of Shoal Creek trail still need work

Most of our group on the pedestrian bridge over Lady Bird Lake

Will Children Be Able to Access Austin's New Bike Share Program?

The City of Austin's new bike share program is quickly moving forward, with 40 kiosks slated to open this spring.  But will families with children in tow be able to use the program? It's unclear at this point according to city officials. I hope the City can find a way to make the program accessible for children, keeping in mind that families with children constitute close to 25% of Austin's households. 

Apparently no other U.S. bike share program offers access to children who cannot fit on adult-sized bikes, so there are no nearby models to learn from on this front in terms of best practices. Why is this the case? Is it because families with children won't use the bikes if they are available? Or, is it because these other cities lack the vision to support families? Or are there other barriers?

One issue is helmets, although presumably parents could carry kid helmets with them. Many adults using Austin's bike share program will also likely be bringing along their own helmets--especially in a city like Austin with such high incidents of bicyclist deaths. In DC, 30% of local riders using the Capital Bikeshare program wear their own helmets.  

Or, there could be a dispenser for helmets in addition to bikes, although dispensers are not widely offered at this point in bike share programs and have their issues.  Other cities around the world have compulsory helmet laws for all bicyclists and have still figured out ways to address the helmet issue. Portland is looking to offer helmet vending machines, and Vancouver is in process of installing them.

In addition to serving Austin's families, developing a bike share program that is accessible to children is also important for tourists traveling here with kids. During my family's travels, we have found that cities with bike share programs that don't serve children make it harder for families to bike b/c they drive the private rental shops in the city core out of business or farther out of town.

Austin's City Council has adopted a vision that our city will become the most family-friendly city in the country; a bike share program that leaves out up to 25% of the population is not representative of this vision. Hopefully the City can figure out a way moving forward to address this issue.

Amazing Playgrounds -- Integrating Play and Art

We were visiting New Braunfels, Texas, this past weekend and came across this cool playground at the children's museum there.

New Braunfels, Texas, children's museum

On my Pinterest board, I have been collecting photos of other cool playgrounds from around the world that I have come across in some form or fashion this past year (either in person, via pics from friends, or via Internet). It's refreshing to see so many playground designs innovating beyond the ubiquitous swing set, slide, and monkey bar grouping (which are quite limited in how they engage children, especially the 8 and older set). Some of the newer designs are truly magical. Among the best playgrounds are those integrating play and art to captivate children's imaginations, encourage their sense of wonderment, and draw them into play.  Please keep sending me pics of any amazing playgrounds you come across in your travels.

Here are some of my favorites:

Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam designed playground
at Hakone Open Air Musuem in Takone, Japan
© Sikuen, Flickr, available under a Creative Commons Attribution/Noncommercial/Share Alike License

More photos of this amazing playground are available on the designer's website.

Monstrum playground in Denmark
Image from Monstrum website

Merry go 'round in Paris
From our trip there this Summer

Monstrum playground in Copenhagen Denmark.
Image from Monstrum website

Monstrum playground in Gothenberg Denmark.
Image from Monstrum website

Takino-Suzuran Hillside National Park in Sapporo, Japan
© MJ/TR Flickr, available under a Creative Commons Attribution License