COMMUNITY PROFILE PEDESTRIAN DIGNITY BY CAT EVANS JONATHAN STALLS SPENT 242 DAYS walking across the United States; he now refers to himself as a “walking artist.” Amongst many endeavors, Stalls created a project called Pedestrian Dignity. Pedestrian Dignity is a platform designed to allow everyday people to document and share their experiences operating as pedestrians. There are many fundamental flaws in sidewalks, crosswalks, and accessibility overall, and often, these get overlooked by the general public, making functional needs harder to meet, particularly for people who are handicapped. Stalls, a huge believer in collaboration and unity, believed that togetherness was the only true solution to disrupt apathy toward such important human matters. “I believe in co-creation more than anything,” he said. Pedestrian Dignity exists as a “raw, unfiltered storytelling/ educational/awareness, built around the lived experience.” The education is hyper-focused on people who have no choice but to commute by foot or wheelchair, with an emphasis on the latter. “All the imagery we see, all the lights, all the signals, all the things are the able-bodied person. It’s so important that I use the terms walking/rolling, moving in an unhurried way, and so on,” said Stalls, who through travel and observation, found it apparent there was a huge gap between the streetlevel experience and local government support. “How are our public transportation departments caring for us?” There is much to be documented regarding the lack of support for people who are on foot and even less accommodation for people who are forced to be in a wheelchair. As you walk down Colfax or Broadway, two main, active, huge streets in the Denver Metro Area, you won’t find a single block without the need for upkeep and alterations. Sidewalks have major fractures, certain areas are without ramps from one sidewalk to another, and so on. On some streets, there isn’t even a sidewalk. Pedestrian Dignity has opened a portal of data to tap into for people directly witnessing/experiencing mobility negligence to submit their own findings by sharing publicly on all major social media platforms. The distance between knowing that an issue exists and feeling that a genuine injustice is occurring is the exact bridge Stalls is trying to gap. “We work with local accessibility groups and have them co-host an experience that would have decision-makers move in a wheelchair,” Stalls said. The hope is that people who otherwise would never understand the difficulty of getting from A to B, without the luxury of a vehicle would really see what it’s like “in these totally hostile, irresponsible corridors, intersections.” From his view, apathy shed toward something so crucial exists heavily from a lack of experience. “Moving from a conceptual, theoretical separation into the empathy brain. The heart brain. Like, okay, now I’m out here, and I’m witnessing someone trying to ride this bus during a snowstorm. I’m in proximity to this grandma with groceries waiting for a bus that is 20 minutes late. Most importantly, the physical element being I feel this. I feel the wet spray on Colorado Boulevard as I’m walking down the street. I know because I’ve lived it,” Stalls said. Connecting those two realms is necessary for genuine empathy. Communicating with the City is no easy task but one the project takes on hard-headed. Multiple walks with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) have been organized, and many conversations have been had. Sometimes there is progress, and other times, crickets. Stalls is familiar with the action versus word but is resilient with accountability. “You say you are for a certain thing, but until agency and integration are applied in everyday decisions that disrupt conversations only focusing on motor vehicles, we will continue down the same broken path,” Stalls said. The greater awareness the Pedestrian Dignity community can create, the more pressure the City faces to respond. On a walk with the Colorado State Department, Stalls called out CDOT’s logo for lack of pedestrian inclusion on their updated version. “They say, ‘it’s just a logo.’ No, it’s not just a logo. It’s a brand,” he said. “The current logo shows a road going through a mountain and an airplane — nobody on foot whatsoever. You are communicating in 2021 that you only focus on airplanes and cars as a form of transportation in your logo, publicly branding that there are no people who walk or use public transportation.” Car-centric language and imagery are viewed by Stalls as crucial barriers between visibility and social awareness of street conditions for pedestrians. According to Stalls, there is an air of righteousness in today’s younger generation. With content creation and rapid relay used as tools to influence change and encourage high engagement from younger people, the knowledge of public JONATHAN STALLS OF PEDESTRIAN DIGNITY. CREDIT: CAT EVANS error and room for improvement grows rapidly. “What I’m loving is that young people who never saw it as a space they could organize in, are jumping in, taking JONATHAN STALLS OF PEDESTRIAN DIGNITY. CREDIT: CAT EVANS it to their classes, making it their capstone project, considering urban planning as a career — they’re tangibly weaving their colleagues, teachers, classes, future career framing around this — that is exciting to me,” Stalls emphasized, acknowledging a tangible growth regarding exposure and visibility of pedestrian awareness in younger communities. Stalls is fully aware of the time it will take to make a difference. Each move has to do with raising public awareness, a struggle that will be long and uphill. The lack of support generates an “angst” that encourages Stalls and his collaborators to continue marching forward, creating content, sharing stories, and tapping the shoulder of the City whenever they can get the time of day. When Stalls hosts a walk with City workers, he focuses on dehumanization and the need to get back to each other. “Physically, you are next to the director of the Colorado Department of Transportation. There are so many benefits of us moving together that help us to find each other again. It’s not just about devastation, it’s about healing,” he said. The road to impact will be, ironically, long and bumpy with many progressions, inclines, and plateaus along the way. The more knowledgeable people are about the true conditions of the City-kept streets, the more pressure can be applied to local council members and decision-makers to truly make a difference for those most in need. Pedestrian Dignity has set up its feed inside almost every social media platform: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok with the handle @pedestriandignity — all submissions highlighting spaces in need of pedestrian focus. For those who have the desire to participate, all forms of support and contributions are welcome. ■ 4 DENVER VOICE February 2022
5 Publizr Home