Found on Foot

You can now follow Shade Parade Nashville & The Sidewalk Foundation on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Found_on_Foot

I love sidewalks…Find out why Nashville should, too.

Come By The Farmer's Market on West End: Saturday, Aug 16th, 2014 from 9-12

Tomorrow, Saturday August 16th, plan to stop by the Farmer's Market on West End.  Learn about our upcoming events & consider making a donation to The Sidewalk Foundation:

- Mayoral Candidate's Coffee on Walkability, Oct 8th, 745a, at Ruby

- Pedestrian Paradise for Walk Month, Oct 19th, 4-7p

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We would love to hear your thoughts and concerns about the current state of walkability in Nashville.

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Is This Safe?

The sight of people waiting for the bus in Nashville.  These people are actually mostly high school students finishing up their day at Hillsboro High.  

This image sums up our typical infrastructure for walkers.  There is a patch of grass to stand on - actually bigger than many places - much bigger than the patch of grass on Hillsboro as you head  towards town away from Green Hills (i.e. from Woodmont to 440).  Note the rock wall and the very large parking lot beyond.  But where is the place scaled appropriately for the pedestrian?

If we are to encourage more walking in Nashville - I encourage you to question this type of minimal infrastructure.  

Is this safe?

Kleiber's Law - Applied to Cities?

Kleiber's law, named after Max Kleiber's biological work in the early 1930s, is the observation that, for the vast majority of animals, an animal's metabolic rate scales to the ¾ power of the animal's mass.

Essentially, the bigger you, the slower your metabolism.  Another way to say this is the larger the animal the slower the heart rate.  An interesting consequence of this is that all animals tend to have the same number of heartbeats over their lifetimes.  Bigger animals just take longer to use up the allotted amount.

Can you apply the same thinking to cities?  Cities certainly represent a type of living organism if you will.  According to Steven Johnson, author of Where Good Ideas Come From:  The Natural History of Innovation, 'theoretical physicist Geoffrey West decided to investigate whether Kleiber's law applied to one of life's largest creations:  the super organism of human-built cities'.

From an energy perspective, 'a city was just a scaled up elephant'.  Less energy is used when a city become denser.  

The most curious thing is what happens to the people of a city as the population grows.  Apparently, the opposite of Kleiber's Law occurs in terms of the creativity of its inhabitants.  In terms of size, when a city was bigger, the inhabitants were metabolically more active in terms of innovation.  "A city that was ten times larger than its neighbor wasn't ten times more innovative; it was SEVENTEEN times more innovative.  A metropolis fifty times bigger than a town was 130 times more innovative'.  

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As Nashville grows, we need better ways to get its people around.  In every way possible, please support and encourage sidewalk production.  And, what I mean by this, is really well designed sidewalks that are beautiful, unique and interesting to walk on.

Please consider making a donation to The Sidewalk Foundation.

Let's turn Nashville into a Pedestrian Paradise!

Walk Nashville Month

October 2014

Contact us:
thesidewalkfoundation@gmail.com

Sources:

Where Good Ideas Come From:  The Natural History of Innovation 
Steven Johnson, 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleiber's_law

Infrastructure in Nashville -> Pedestrian Paradise Oct 12, 2014

As you make your way around Nashville, I encourage you to really evaluate our infrastructure.  Most roads, outside of the urban core, were built quickly and cheaply after  WW II.  

This is Bowling Av, Sidewalk Project #1.  It is a perfect example of the road described above.  Essentially, it is just a flattened place with asphalt.  No curb, no gutter, NO SIDEWALK. This is the cheapest infrastructure.

In addition, the speed limit is 35 miles per hour.  For a pedestrian, this is an uncomfortable place to walk and it is evident in the few people you see scurrying along this road trying to get to a side road to escape.

My daughter, who is in kindergarten, has her bus stop here.  We will be spending the year observing this place & I am sure there will be tales to be told.

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Walk Month Nashville is in October.  Currently, we are concocting plans to turn Bowling into a 'Pedestrian Paradise' for a day.  The plan is to get the whole neighborhood out on foot in mass and take back Bowling Av.  We will all end up at Elmington Park where lots of fun events will be scheduled. 

 

Tentative date:  

Sunday, October 12th, 2014.

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Hoped for Events:

> - arts/crafts
> - plein air painting/painters
> - dance
> - music
> - theater - Shakespeare on request?
> - additional food trucks
> - movie in the park
> - outdoor yoga
> - outdoor tai chi
> - run/walk event down Bowling Av

If you have ideas or would like to contribute/volunteer - please let me know through this blog, via Facebook or via email…

https://www.facebook.com/shadeparadenashville?ref=br_tf

thesidewalkfoundation@gmail.com

As many know, The Nations, in Nashville is planning a similar event where they will completely change 51st Av into a much more inviting space on August 23rd…Please plan to come to this event!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Nations-Nashville-Neighborhood/147341245314388

Shade Parade Nashville and The Sidewalk Foundation are dedicated to bringing high quality well designed sidewalks to all of Nashville.  Our 1st project is to sidewalk Bowling Av (Sidewalk Project #1).  Please join us in this goal by asking your councilperson and Public Works to Sidewalk Bowling Av from West End to Woodmont.  You can also support this goal by making a generous donation!  

$50 = 1 sq ft of sidewalk. 

Art Bombing - Coming Soon to Nashville?

Today, there is a myriad of ways to put your mark on the environment.  

From early cave paintings to graffiti, people have been altering their environment for the better for ages.  An additional form of alteration, Guerrilla Art or Art Bombing, is essentially art placed in public that is meant to be thought provoking, anonymous and temporary.  It is free art accessible by all.  Think of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith haring in the '80s.  

This kind of art can change the viewed landscape.  It can be a personal expression but also a way to build community.  It can rearrange a frankly mundane place into something spectacular.  In particular, Guerrilla Art or Art Bombing has a way of fascinating people - turning an ordinary walk into something far more surprising.  According to Adbusters magazine, 'public art says 'the human spirit is alive here.''

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As many Nashville walkers know, it can be a bit dull to get out on foot.  There are not a lot of design elements that are meant for the walker.  Most shopping areas have a huge parking lot out front rather than offering window shopping in front.  A lot of neighborhoods also suffer from huge front yards, placing the house at a distance making it difficult to observe.  

What if we put this kind of art into action, and turned Walk Month Nashville this October into a month of intrigue?  

This art engages the viewer partly because of the surprise element.  I dare you to come up with an Art Bomb idea and execute it.  If we can make a lasting impact on Nashville's pedestrians by rewarding people for getting out on foot and introduce art in an unexpected way - we could help change our culture here into a much more pedestrian rich one.

Paul Curtis AKA Moose: soap graffiti - essentially, Moose uses good old fashioned elbow grease, soap and water to write in grime.

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If you see evidence of Art Bombing or Guerrilla Art around Nashville or you have ideas of what & where something can be done - please share it here. 

Near corner of Graybar and Hillsboro on the east side of street…does anyone know what this is?  Is it an art bomb?  It appears to have been dug out and placed recently.  I have walked this little strip before (note: no sidewalk here!) and this object was not here. From behind, it resembles a goat…check it out and let me know what you think!

Sources:


http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=guerrilla%20art

The Guerrilla Art Kit by Keri Smith Published by Princeton Architectural Press, 2007


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3379017

Guerrilla Art/Urbanization - The Nations. Plus Early Thoughts on Walk Month, October 2014, Nashville

The urge to alter the environment is long standing.  

Lascaux, France.  Cave paintings, 30,000 years ago.

Arborglyph created by Basque sheepherders during the 1930s discovered in an aspen grove, California.  

Modern graffiti - Paul Curtis AKA Moose, graffiti in grime - accomplished by literally washing way dirt on wall with soap, brush and water.

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For ages, people have been putting their mark on the world.  How can you get involved right now?

  The Nations, in Nashville, is enacting a wonderful example of this mark making.  Their work will completely transform 51st Av in a huge neighborhood wide event on August 23rd, 2014.  You can be a part of this - volunteers gather on Saturdays at 5600 Pennsylvania Av.    

Furniture made from foraged pallets

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All the work is being completed by volunteers with mostly salvaged materials.  Their work is generating a huge amount of excitement in Nashville & I truly hope you walk down and enjoy the festivities on 8/23/2014.  

Check out their Facebook Page & give them a 'like'…

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Nations-Nashville-Neighborhood/147341245314388?sk=timeline   

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In a similar fashion, Shade Parade Nashville & The Sidewalk Foundation want you to get excited about/involved in Walk Month Nashville in October.

Preliminary plans are now being made to alter Bowling Av into a pedestrian paradise terminating in Elmington Park for an event likely on Sunday, October 12th.  We are looking into ways to make this a unique and intriguing event… 

If you have ideas about activities, resources or volunteering - please let me know. Initial thoughts include food trucks, theater, music, dance, movie in the park, arts/crafts, graffiti art, plein air painting, yoga, Tai chi, games. 

If you would like to get involved - message me on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/shadeparadenashville

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Sources:

https://knowledgecenter.unr.edu/sheepherders/arborglyphs.html

http://www.pinterest.com/revmccoy3/guerilla-art/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3379017

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1664894/

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