Can Your City Answer This Sidewalk Question?

Can Your City Answer This Sidewalk Question?

July 7, 2026 · 19 min · Episode 265

About this episode

Dr. Anat Caspi discusses the Open Sidewalks project and its impact on mapping pedestrian infrastructure.

When Washington state asked which residents had access to frequent transit, it ran into a surprisingly basic problem: that question is hard to answer without knowing where sidewalks, crossings and curb ramps actually are. Dr. Anat Caspi, director of the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology at the University of Washington, joins the show to talk about Open Sidewalks, a project that helps communities map pedestrian infrastructure in a shared, usable format. Her team has mapped hundreds of thousands of sidewalks, and now residents can help add the local details that determine whether a route actually works in daily life. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Dr. Anat Caspi (LinkedIn) Open Sidewalks Connect Map (Map) Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn) Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here. This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.

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Host: Strong Towns

Guest: Dr. Anat Caspi

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Organizations: Taskar Center for Accessible Technology, University of Washington

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